Nonvolatile semiconductor photorefractive memory structure

Abstract

The invention belongs to the technical field of semiconductor electric devices. The structure comprises an optical waveguide part (100) and a floating gate part (200), wherein the optical waveguide part comprises a semiconductor optical waveguide (1), an upper insulator medium (4) and a lower insulator medium (7); the floating gate part (200) comprises floating gates (2), control gates (3), conducting mediums (5) and binate electrodes (6); the floating gates (2) are arranged between the control gates (3) and the conducting mediums (5), and are isolated by the upper insulator medium (4); and the floating gates (2) are contacted with the semiconductor optical waveguide (1). In the invention, the semiconductor optical waveguide has the function of charge storage memory of the floating gates;meanwhile, charge has modulating action on the index of refraction of the optical waveguide. When the invention is applied to an optical switch, pulse energy is additionally added for control only when the state of the optical switch is changed, and a lot of energy is saved. When the invention is applied to a photonic micro-cavity, resonance condition in the micro-cavity has memorability.

Description

Technical field: [0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of semiconductor optoelectronic devices, and particularly relates to the refractive index of a medium in an integrated optical device. Background technique: [0002] With the rapid popularization of optical communication network technology, the energy consumption for optical switching and optical transmission is also increasing. Therefore, the demand for low-energy devices in optical networks is becoming more and more urgent. The optical switching system composed of optical switches is a key part of the optical network. It provides an optical link that transmits an optical signal from a certain entrance to a certain exit. After an optical link is established and before it is changed, the state of the optical link does not change, but the voltage (or current) that controls each optical switch must be kept working to keep this optical link open. If we can make each optical switch have the storage function of ele...

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Problems solved by technology

[0005] The prior art close to the structure of the present invention is an optical read-only memory paper published by Cornell University in 2006: C.A.Barrios and M.Lipson, "Silicon Photonic Read-Only Memory," J.of Lightwave Thechnol. 242006 pp2898, in the structure designed in the paper, the floating gate and the optical waveguide are separated, the coupling part of the carrier and light in the floating gate is small, and the efficiency is low; in the structure designed in the paper, the optical waveguide is connected to the electrode at the same time, It is used as an electrode, so the area of ​​the floating gate is limited by the area of ​​the waveguide, and the modulation of the refractive index of the optical waveguide is very weak

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