A Full-Duplex 5×5 Optical Router Based on a Hybrid Photonic-Plasmonic Switch

An optical router is an essential component of a photonic network-on-chip (PNoC). Normally, an optical router consists of traditional optical elements such as the micro-ring resonator (MRR) and the Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI). This type of router has many disadvantages, such as a large size, lack of thermal stability and low speed, although their manufacturing technologies are mature. In this paper, we propose a full duplex 5×5 optical router based on a hybrid photonic-plasmonic switch (HPPS). The HPPS has the advantages of compactness, thermal stability and high speed, which can effectively solve the problems of traditional optical routers. In this work, each optical communication link in the optical router is independent, and each optical communication link no longer shares the same switch, which avoids blocking between channels and achieves full-duplex communication. The modelling of the optical router using the HPPS is performed through MATLAB as well as by a finite-difference-time-domain (FDTD) simulation. The maximum and average insertion losses (ILs) of the router are 5.4 dB and 3.5 dB, respectively, and the router has a fast switching time (100 ps). The results show that this optical router has the advantages of low loss and low energy consumption and provides a 5×5 full-duplex optical router for the PNoC.