Jorge ParraAssistant Professor at Universitat de València · Photonics · Electronics

Research

Research

Reconfigurable integrated photonics with functional materials

My research focuses on silicon photonic devices enhanced with functional materials. I explore how light can be switched, controlled and stored efficiently, and how these devices can support neuromorphic information processing.

Abstract composition of optical paths, interference and reconfigurable material states.

Research areas

Functional materials for integrated photonics

Hybrid silicon and silicon nitride platforms incorporating vanadium dioxide, transparent conducting oxides and phase-change materials to introduce active optical functionality.

Reconfigurable and non-volatile photonic devices

Integrated switches, phase shifters, photonic memories and polarisation-control devices designed for compact, energy-efficient and robust operation.

Neuromorphic photonic hardware

Integrated nonlinear activation functions, spiking devices and multilevel memories for analogue optical information processing inspired by the brain.

Approach: device modelling, electromagnetic simulation, numerical optimisation and experimental characterisation.

Research output

Journal publications

2026
  1. Y. Gutiérrez, D. Juan, F. Agresti, Í. López‐Mulet, J. Parra, M. G. Fernández‐Manteca, S. Vázquez‐Miranda, S. Espinoza, M. Losurdo, and P. Sanchis, “Characterization of Anisotropic Optical Behavior in Phase‐Change Material Sb2Se3,” Advanced Optical Materials, Art. no. e71583, 2026, doi: 10.1002/adom.71583.
  2. J. Caso, J. Parra, B. Rajeswaran, and P. Sanchis, “Low-loss hydrogen-doped indium oxide thermo-optic phase shifter for visible wavelengths,” Optics Express, vol. 34, no. 16, p. 29741, 2026, doi: 10.1364/OE.601898.
  3. J. Parra, J.-F. Morcillo, K. Schouteden, J. W. Seo, J.-P. Locquet, and P. Sanchis, “Broadband and ultra-compact all-optical nonlinear activation function enabled by VO2-integrated photonics,” Journal of Physics: Photonics, vol. 8, no. 2, Art. no. 025010, 2026, doi: 10.1088/2515-7647/ae6004.
2025
  1. J. Parra, J. Navarro-Arenas, and P. Sanchis, “Sub-milliwatt threshold power and tunable-bias all-optical nonlinear activation function using vanadium dioxide for wavelength-division multiplexing photonic neural networks,” Scientific Reports, vol. 15, no. 1, Art. no. 5608, 2025, doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-90350-3.
  2. J. Parra, “Polarization-Insensitive Silicon Grating Couplers via Subwavelength Metamaterials and Metaheuristic Optimization,” Photonics, vol. 12, no. 5, Art. no. 428, 2025, doi: 10.3390/photonics12050428.
  3. J. Navarro-Arenas, T. M. Howe, J. Parra, D. C. Koutsogeorgis, J. A. Hillier, N. Kalfagiannis, and P. Sanchis, “Local Tuning of the Epsilon-Near-Zero Condition in Hybrid Silicon Waveguides Using Reactive Laser Annealing,” Advanced Photonics Research, vol. 6, no. 6, Art. no. 2400140, 2025, doi: 10.1002/adpr.202400140.
2024
  1. J. J. Seoane, J. Parra, J. Navarro-Arenas, M. Recaman, K. Schouteden, J. P. Locquet, and P. Sanchis, “Ultra-high endurance silicon photonic memory using vanadium dioxide,” npj Nanophotonics, vol. 1, no. 1, Art. no. 37, 2024, doi: 10.1038/s44310-024-00038-1.
  2. J. Parra, J. Navarro-Arenas, and P. Sanchis, “Silicon thermo-optic phase shifters: a review of configurations and optimization strategies,” Advanced Photonics Nexus, vol. 3, no. 4, Art. no. 044001, 2024, doi: 10.1117/1.APN.3.4.044001.
  3. J. Parra, M. Kovylina, A. Griol, and P. Sanchis, “Nonvolatile reconfigurable polarization rotator at datacom wavelengths based on a Sb2Se3/Si waveguide,” Optics Express, vol. 32, no. 23, pp. 40581–40592, 2024, doi: 10.1364/OE.537225.
  4. J.-F. Morcillo, P. Sanchis, and J. Parra, “On-chip electro-optical spiking VO2/Si device with an inhibitory leaky integrate-and-fire response,” Optical Materials Express, vol. 14, no. 11, pp. 2681–2693, 2024, doi: 10.1364/OME.537717.
2023
  1. J. J. Seoane, J. Parra, J. Navarro-Arenas, and P. Sanchis, “Enhanced BaTiO3/Si3N4 integrated photonic platform with VO2 technology for large-scale neuromorphic computing [Invited],” Optical Materials Express, vol. 13, no. 11, pp. 3266–3276, 2023, doi: 10.1364/OME.501920.
  2. J. Navarro-Arenas, J. Parra, and P. Sanchis, “Complex-valued trainable activation function hardware using a TCO/silicon modulator,” Optical Materials Express, vol. 13, no. 10, pp. 2869–2881, 2023, doi: 10.1364/OME.497644.
  3. J. Navarro-Arenas, J. Parra, and P. Sanchis, “Comparative Performance Evaluation of Transparent Conducting Oxides With Different Mobilities for All-Optical Switching in Silicon,” IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics, vol. 59, no. 3, pp. 1–7, 2023, doi: 10.1109/JQE.2023.3264774.
2022
  1. J. Parra, J. Navarro-Arenas, M. Kovylina, and P. Sanchis, “Impact of GST thickness on GST-loaded silicon waveguides for optimal optical switching,” Scientific Reports, vol. 12, no. 1, Art. no. 9774, 2022, doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-13848-0.
  2. J. Navarro-Arenas, J. Parra, and P. Sanchis, “Ultrafast all-optical phase switching enabled by epsilon-near-zero materials in silicon,” Optics Express, vol. 30, no. 9, pp. 14518–14529, 2022, doi: 10.1364/OE.454181.
  3. B. Chmielak, S. Suckow, J. Parra, V. C. Duarte, T. Mengual, M. A. Piqueras, A. L. Giesecke, M. C. Lemme, and P. Sanchis, “High-efficiency grating coupler for an ultralow-loss Si3N4-based platform,” Optics Letters, vol. 47, no. 10, pp. 2498–2501, 2022, doi: 10.1364/OL.455078.
2021
  1. J. Parra, W. H. P. Pernice, and P. Sanchis, “All-optical phase control in nanophotonic silicon waveguides with epsilon-near-zero nanoheaters,” Scientific Reports, vol. 11, no. 1, Art. no. 9474, 2021, doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-88865-6.
  2. J. Parra, I. Olivares, A. Brimont, and P. Sanchis, “Toward Nonvolatile Switching in Silicon Photonic Devices,” Laser & Photonics Reviews, vol. 15, no. 6, Art. no. 2000501, 2021, doi: 10.1002/lpor.202000501.
  3. J. Parra, J. Navarro-Arenas, M. Menghini, M. Recaman, J. Pierre-Locquet, and P. Sanchis, “Low-threshold power and tunable integrated optical limiter based on an ultracompact VO2/Si waveguide,” APL Photonics, vol. 6, no. 12, Art. no. 121301, 2021, doi: 10.1063/5.0071395.
  4. J. Parra, T. Ivanova, M. Menghini, P. Homm, J.-P. Locquet, and P. Sanchis, “All-Optical Hybrid VO2/Si Waveguide Absorption Switch at Telecommunication Wavelengths,” Journal of Lightwave Technology, vol. 39, no. 9, pp. 2888–2894, 2021, doi: 10.1109/JLT.2021.3054942.
  5. I. Olivares, J. Parra, and P. Sanchis, “Non-Volatile Photonic Memory Based on a SAHAS Configuration,” IEEE Photonics Journal, vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 1–8, 2021, doi: 10.1109/JPHOT.2021.3060144.
2020
  1. J. Parra, I. Olivares, F. Ramos, and P. Sanchis, “Ultra-compact non-volatile Mach–Zehnder switch enabled by a high-mobility transparent conducting oxide,” Optics Letters, vol. 45, no. 6, pp. 1503–1506, 2020, doi: 10.1364/OL.388363.
  2. J. Parra, J. Hurtado, A. Griol, and P. Sanchis, “Ultra-low loss hybrid ITO/Si thermo-optic phase shifter with optimized power consumption,” Optics Express, vol. 28, no. 7, pp. 9393–9404, 2020, doi: 10.1364/OE.386959.
  3. S. Cueff, J. John, Z. Zhang, J. Parra, J. Sun, R. Orobtchouk, S. Ramanathan, and P. Sanchis, “VO2 nanophotonics,” APL Photonics, vol. 5, no. 11, Art. no. 110901, 2020, doi: 10.1063/5.0028093.
2019
  1. J. Parra, I. Olivares, A. Brimont, and P. Sanchis, “Non-volatile epsilon-near-zero readout memory,” Optics Letters, vol. 44, no. 16, pp. 3932–3935, 2019, doi: 10.1364/OL.44.003932.
  2. I. Olivares, J. Parra, A. Brimont, and P. Sanchis, “Enhancing Pockels effect in strained silicon waveguides,” Optics Express, vol. 27, no. 19, pp. 26882–26892, 2019, doi: 10.1364/OE.27.026882.
2018
  1. L. D. Sánchez, I. Olivares, J. Parra, M. Menghini, P. Homm, J.-P. Locquet, and P. Sanchis, “Experimental demonstration of a tunable transverse electric pass polarizer based on hybrid VO2/silicon technology,” Optics Letters, vol. 43, no. 15, pp. 3650–3653, 2018, doi: 10.1364/OL.43.003650.
  2. I. Olivares, L. Sánchez, J. Parra, R. Larrea, A. Griol, M. Menghini, P. Homm, L.-W. Jang, B. van Bilzen, J. W. Seo, J.-P. Locquet, and P. Sanchis, “Optical switching in hybrid VO2/Si waveguides thermally triggered by lateral microheaters,” Optics Express, vol. 26, no. 10, pp. 12387–12395, 2018, doi: 10.1364/OE.26.012387.