Silicon Reconfigurable Optical Logic Using Phase-Change Materials

We present the use of an optical phase change material to create scalable and reconfigurable optical logic switches. We demonstrate that two logic operations can be achieved at a single wavelength using a single microdisk; while dual nanobeams in a Mach-Zehnder configuration could realize a resonant bistable crossbar switch. More complex logic functions can be obtained by introducing multiple stage cascaded microdisks or Mach-Zehner networks. This work suggests alternative switch configurations in silicon photonics.