1 × N (N = 2, 8) Silicon Selector Switch for Prospective Technologies at the 2 μm Waveband

The 2 $\mu \text{m}$ waveband, specifically near $1.9~\mu \text{m}$ , is an imperative resource that could possibly be exploited in future communications systems. This is due to the promising infrastructural developments at the wavelength region (hollow-core photonic bandgap fiber, thulium-doped fiber amplifier) near $1.9~\mu \text{m}$ . In this work, we report the 1 $\times N$ selector switch based on Mach-Zehnder interferometers operating near the $1.9~\mu \text{m}$ wavelength region. As an elementary cell ( $N $ = 2), an insertion loss as low as 1.1 dB, $\text{P}_{\pi }$ of 23 mW, 10-90% switching time of lower than 38 $\mu \text{s}$ and a crosstalk of lower than −25 dB from 1880 to 1955 nm has been determined. In order to prove scalability, the 1 $\times $ 8 switch $(N $ = 8) is demonstrated, indicating crosstalk as low as −21 dB, considering all possible switching configurations across the abovementioned wavelength region. Insertion loss levels are examined.