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This theoretical modeling and simulation paper presents design and projected performance of an on-chip thermo-optical multi Sagnac loop Mach–Zehnder interferometer (MZI), operating at C-band and 3300 nm for silicon-on-insulator and germanium-on-silicon technological platforms, respectively. The MZI arms are comprised of an N-cascaded connection of Sagnac loop reflectors, each pair separated by a waveguide whose length is designed according to the wavelength-channel spacing requirements. N is chosen according to the Butterworth filter technique to provide one spectral response having maximal flatness within the desired bandwidth. Switched, spatial routing of odd and even channels is achieved by shifting the Through and Drop MZI spectra along the wavelength axis by means of a low-power thermo-optical heater stripe atop each loop-connector that changes its effective refractive index …