We propose and experimentally demonstrate an integrated silicon photonic scheme to generate multi-channel millimeter-wave (MMW) signals for 5G multi-user applications. The fabricated silicon photonic chip has a footprint of 1.1 × 2.1 mm² and integrates 7 independent channels each having on-chip polarization control and heterodyne mixing functions. 7 channels of 4-Gb/s QPSK baseband signals are delivered via a 2-km multi-core fiber (MCF) and coupled into the chip with a local oscillator (LO) light. The polarization state of each signal light is automatically adjusted and aligned with that of the LO light, and then 7 channels of 28-GHz MMW carrying 4-Gb/s QPSK signals are generated by optical heterodyne beating. Automated polarization-control function of each channel is also demonstrated with ~7-ms tuning time and ~27-dB extinction ratio.

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a 2×2 thermo-optic (TO) crossbar switch implemented by dual photonic crystal nanobeam (PCN) cavities within a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) platform. By thermally tuning the refractive index of silicon, the resonance wavelength of the PCN cavities can be red-shifted. With the help of the ultrasmall mode volumes of the PCN cavities, only ～0.16 mW power is needed to change the switching state. With a spectral passband of 0.09 nm at the 1583.75 nm operation wavelength, the insertion loss (IL) and crosstalk (CT) performances were measured as IL(bar)= 0.2 dB, CT(bar)= 15 dB, IL(cross)= 1.5 dB, and CT(cross)= 15 dB. Furthermore, the thermal tuning efficiency of the fabricated device is as high as 1.23 nm/mW.

Mode- and polarization-division multiplexing offer new dimensions to increase the transmission capacity of optical communications. Selective switches are key components in reconfigurable optical network nodes. An on-chip silicon 2×2 mode- and polarization-selective switch that can route four data channels on two modes and two polarizations simultaneously is proposed and experimentally demonstrated for the first time, to the best of our knowledge. The overall insertion losses are lower than 8.6 dB. To reduce the inter-modal crosstalk, polarization beam splitters are added to filter the undesired polarizations or modes. The measured inter-modal and intra-modal crosstalk values are below ?23.2 and ?22.8 dB for all the channels, respectively.