Energy-Efficient Photonic Memory Based on Electrically Programmable Embedded III-V/Si Memristors: Switches and Filters

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel energy-efficient photonic memory using embedded III-V/Si memristors that enable non-volatile optical functionalities, including switches and filters, with high phase shifts, multiple states, and low power consumption.

Contribution

The work introduces the first non-volatile III-V/Si optical memristors capable of large phase shifts and reconfigurable filtering with minimal power use.

Findings

Achieved non-volatile optical phase shifts > π with 30 dB extinction ratio

Demonstrated 6 non-volatile states with 4 Gbps modulation each

Maintained non-volatility for at least 24 hours

Abstract

We demonstrate non-volatile optical functionality by embedding multi-layer $HfO_2/Al_2O_3$ memristors with III-V/Si photonics. The wafer-bonded III-V/Si memristor facilitates non-volatile optical functionality for a variety of devices such as Mach-Zehnder Interferometers (MZIs), and (de-)interleaver filters. The MZI optical memristor exhibits non-volatile optical phase shifts $> \pi (\Delta n_{g} > 2.70 \times 10^{-3}$) with ~ 30 dB extinction ratio while consuming 0 electrical power consumption in a true "set-and-forget" operation. We demonstrate 6 non-volatile states with each state capable of 4 Gbps modulation. III-V/Si (de-)interleavers were also demonstrated to exhibit memristive non-volatile passband transformation with full set/reset states. Time duration tests were performed on all devices and indicated non-volatility up to 24 hours and most likely beyond. To the best of our knowledge, we have demonstrated for the first time, non-volatile III-V/Si optical memristors with the largest electric-field driven phase shifts and reconfigurable filters with the lowest power consumption.