Wavelength-selective switch based on a high fill-factor micromirror array

A novel design and fabrication approach for a high fill-factor micro-electro-mechanical system(MEMS) micromirror array-based wavelength-selective switch(WSS) is presented. The WSS is composed of a polarization-independent transmission grating and a high fill-factor micromirror array. The WSS is suc-cessfully demonstrated based on the fabricated high fill-factor micromirror array. Test results show that the polarization-dependent loss(PDL) is less than 0.3 dB and that the insertion loss(IL) of the wavelength channel is about -6 dB. The switching function between the two output ports of WSS is measured. The forward switching time is recorded to be about 0.5 ms,whereas the backward switching time is about 7 ms.     

Optical Switching in Silicon Nanowaveguide Ring Resonators Based on Kerr Effect and TPA Effect

We analyze theoretically the 1 × 2 low-power all-optical switching in silicon nanowaveguide ring resonators （RR） based on the Kerr effect and two-photon absorption （TPA）, and give a comparison between both the all-optical switches. The calculation shows that the switching power of the TPA-RR switch is 3 orders smaller than that of the Kerr-RR switch. The switching time for both the switches is about 100ps.     

High-speed 2×2 silicon-based electro-optic switch with nanosecond switch time

A 2× 2 electro-optic switch is experimentally demonstrated using the optical structure of a Mach--Zehnder interferometer (MZI) based on a submicron rib waveguide and the electrical structure of a PIN diode on silicon-on-insulator (SOI). The switch behaviour is achieved through the plasma dispersion effect of silicon. The device has a modulation arm of 1~mm in length and cross-section of 400~nm× 340~nm. The measurement results show that the switch has a V_πL_π figure of merit of 0.145~V\cdot cm and the extinction ratios of two output ports and cross talk are 40~dB, 28~dB and -28~dB, respectively. A 3~dB modulation bandwidth of 90~MHz and a switch time of 6.8~ns for the rise edge and 2.7~ns for the fall edge are also demonstrated.     

Injection-switchable erbium-doped fiber laser with two output ports

An injection-switchable erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) with two output ports based on a ring structure is proposed. Wavelength switching together with the switching of the dominating output port of the fiber laser is achieved by controlling the power of a tunable injection laser. The characteristics of the wavelength switching for different levels of the pump laser power and different wavelengths of the injection laser are studied experimentally.     

Block-free optical quantum Banyan network based on quantum state fusion and fission

Optical switch fabric plays an important role in building multiple-user optical quantum communication networks.Owing to its self-routing property and low complexity, a banyan network is widely used for building switch fabric. While,there is no efficient way to remove internal blocking in a banyan network in a classical way, quantum state fusion, by which the two-dimensional internal quantum states of two photons could be combined into a four-dimensional internal state of a single photon, makes it possible to solve this problem. In this paper, we convert the output mode of quantum state fusion from spatial-polarization mode into time-polarization mode. By combining modified quantum state fusion and quantum state fission with quantum Fredkin gate, we propose a practical scheme to build an optical quantum switch unit which is block free. The scheme can be extended to building more complex units, four of which are shown in this paper.     

All-optical switching effect based on azodye-doped polymer thin films

A simple all-optical switch based on photoinduced birefringence effect is demonstrated in azo dye (DR1) doped polymer (PMMA) thin films. The all-optical switching effect has been studied at different control beam power and different temperatures of the sample. With a control power of 30.7 mW and at 56 ℃, the response time of the switching is less than 5 ms, and the depth of the modulation reaches 80%.     

Monopole Charge Domain in High-Gain Gallium Arsenide Photoconductive Switches

Considering that semi-insulating gallium arsenide photoconductive switches can be triggered into the high gain mode and no reliable theories can account for the observed transient characteristics,we propose the monopole charge domain model to explain the peculiar switching phenomena occurring in the high gain mode and we discuss the requirements for the lock-on switching.During operation on this mode,the applied field across the switch and the lock-on field are all larger than the Gunn threshold field.Our developed monopole charge domain is based on the transferred-electron effect,but the domain is only composed of large numbers of electrons piled up due to the negative differential mobility.Using the model and taking the physical mechanism of the avalanche impact ionization and recombination radiation into consideration,we interpret the typical phenomena of the lock-on effect,such as the time delay between the beginning of optical illumination and turning-on of the switch,and the conduction mechanism of the sustaining phase.under different conditions of bias field intensity and incident light energy,the time delay of the switching is calculated.The results show that the physical mechanisms of impact ionization and recombination radiation occurring in the monopole charge domain are responsible for the lock-on switching.     

Echelle dif fraction grating based high-resolution spectrometer-on-chip on SiON waveguide platform

An echelle diffraction grating based high-resolution spectrometer-on-chip on silicon oxynitride (SiON) waveguide platform operated at a wavelength range of 850 nm is demonstrated. The chip comprises 120 output waveguides with 0.25-nm wavelength channel spacing and has a size of only 11 × 6 (mm). The experimental results show that the insertion loss is-14 dB, the measured adjacent channel crosstalk is less than -25 dB, the 3 dB channel bandwidth is < 0.1 nm, and the channel non-uniformity is 3 dB for 56 channels with a wavelength ranging from 838 to 852 nm.     

Optical Switch Formation in Antimony Super-Resolution Mask Layers Induced by Picosecond Laser Pulses

Sb is a classic material of a super-resolution near field structure （super-RENS） mask layer in which the optical switch formation is often realized by nanosecond laser pulse stimulation. We achieve fast and repeatable optical switching driven by picosecond laser pulses in a proper fluence range on Sb thin films. The optical properties of Sb thin films before and after switching are studied by surface-sensitive micro-area ellipsometry. The change of optical constants after switching is less than 2% in the whole visible range. The Sb mask layer is shown to be very promising for ultrafast super-resolution optical storage applications.     

Optical attenuator based on phase modulation of a spatial light modulator

In this Letter, we propose an optical attenuator based on the phase modulation of a spatial light modulator(SLM). In this system, we use two polarized beam splitters(PBSs) to control the polarized light and one SLM to modulate the phase of the polarized light. In the initial state, the light beam is divided into p-light and s-light when it passes through the first PBS. When the light passes through the second PBS, s-light is reflected and p-light is detected by the CCD camera. By loading different grayscales on the SLM, p-light changes its polarized state to s-light. The light power can be attenuated during the loading process. Our experiment shows that the system can obtain a wide optical attenuation from 1–27.2 d B. When loading two grayscales,the SLM has a fast switching time of 25 ms under a low actuated voltage of 5.5 V. The response time of the optical attenuator depends on the switching time of the SLM. Therefore, the system can also have a fast response time. By using the method of spatial multiplexing and adding two mirrors in the system, it can also be extended into a 1 × 2 optical switch. The results verify its feasibility. The optical attenuator has wide applications in photonic signal processing and fiber-optic communication.     

Tunable Photonic Crystal Mach--Zehnder Interferometer Based on Self-collimation Effect

A theoretical model for tunable Mach--Zehnder interferometers (TMZIs) constructed in a two-dimensional photonic crystal (2D PhC) is proposed. The 2D PhC consists of a square lattice of cylindric air holes in silicon. The TMZI includes two mirrors and two splitters. Light propagates between them employing a self-collimation effect. The two interferometer branches have different path lengths. Parts of the longer branch are infiltrated with a kind of liquid crystal (LC) with ordinary and extraordinary refractive indices 1.522 and 1.706, respectively. The transmission spectra at two TMZI output ports are in the shape of sinusoidal curves and have a uniform peak spacing 0.0017c/a in the frequency range from 0.26c/a to 0.27c/a. When the effective refractive index n_eff of the liquid crystal is increased from 1.522 to 1.706, the peaks shift to the lower frequencies over 0.0017c/a while the peak spacing is almost kept unchanged. Thus this TMZI can work as a tunable power splitter or an optical switch. For the central operating wavelength around 1550nm, its dimensions are only about tens of micron. Thus this device may be applied to photonic integrated circuits.     

低功耗聚合物Mach-Zehnder热光开关

采用传统的半导体工艺制作了聚合物Mach-Zehnder型热光开关.利用扫描电镜观测波导形貌,通过红外摄像机观测波导的近场输出光斑,在通信波段1 550 nm波长下测试了器件的输出光谱.在电极上施加直流信号,测得热光开关的消光比为－15 dB,驱动功率为16 mW.引入直流偏置网络,获得了器件的开关特性曲线,经测量开关上升时间为1.2 ms,下降时间为0.8 ms.     

Fabrication of Triplexers Based on Flattop SOI AWG

A triplexer is fabricated based on SOI arrayed waveguide gratings （AWGs）. Three wavelengths of the triplexer operate at different diffraction orders of an arrayed waveguide grating. The signals of 1490nm and 1550nm, which are input from central input waveguide of an AWG, are demultiplexed and the signal of 131Onto, which is input from central output waveguide of an AWG, is uploaded. The tested results show that the downloaded and uploaded signals have fiat-top response. The insertion loss is 9 dB on chip, the nonadjacent crosstalk is less than -30 dB for 1490nm and 1301 nm, and is less than -25 dB for 1550nm, the 3dB bandwidth equates that of the input light source.     

SOI波导反射模式的古斯-汉欣空间位移效应及其数字式热光开关

借助波导转角镜结构,利用古斯-汉欣空间位移和热光效应折射率调制的有效组合,提出了波导反射模式数字式热光开关结构.在给定入射角的条件下优化了空间古斯-汉欣位移,在具有古斯-汉欣效应的本征态下,反射光束出现了较大的跳跃.在1.0μm厚硅膜的绝缘体上硅平台上,单模输入波导和多模干涉波导结构之间的导模本征态匹配,验证了1×3数...     

Optical switch with low-phase transition temperature based on thin nanocrystalline VOx film

An optical switch is fabricated by using micromachining technology, which is based on thin nanocrystalline vanadium oxide (VO_x) film, and it consists of four layers: a silicon (Si) substrate layer, a VO_x layer, a Si₃N₄ buffer layer, and an aurum (Au) electrode layer. By applying a switching power supply to a pair of the Au electrodes, the optical switch is controlled to exhibit from an “on” state with semi-conducting phase to an “off” state with metallic phase. The optical switch performance is investigated, and testing results show that its extinction ratio is about 14 dB, its switching response time can achieve about 1.5 ms, and the power dissipation required for stimulating switching to work can be below about 15 mW at least, which is lower than the power dissipation of conventional optical switches based on microstructure thin vanadium dioxide (VO₂) films. This kind of optical switch is potential to be applied as optical switch for optical communication.     

Flexible integration of optical switch with optical power splitting and attenuating functions for optical fiber-based networking applications

A flexible integration of optical switch with optical power splitting and attenuating functions has been proposed to optimally serve optical fiber-based networking applications. In this switch, an etched binary-slope sidewall reflector is electrostatically actuated in and out of the plane to manipulate optical signals between input and output optical fibers. The fabrication process is a simple combination of a bulk-silicon micromachining process and silicon-to-glass anodic bonding where fiber alignment grooves, reflectors and actuators are fabricated on the same silicon substrate. Ball-lensed fibers are assembled with the device to achieve high coupling efficiency. Performances of the fabricated devices are measured and discussed. The switching time is less than 9 ms at 31 V. The excess loss of the device is less than 3 dB and the controllable attenuation range is up to 38 dB at 139 V, respectively. Moreover, polarization-dependent loss is less than 0.7 dB in the whole attenuation and splitting range.     

Photonic switching in GaAlAs optical strip waveguides by photo-induced electroabsorption

GaAlAs strip waveguides embedded in unbiased pn-junctions are employed for all-optical switching. The underlying physical mechanism is a combination of the photovoltaic effect and the conventional Franz-Keldysh effect, thus it is called the photo-induced Franz-Keldysh effect or photo-induced electroabsorption. Experimental as well as theoretical results are given and show good agreement. In the experiments the transmitted light power of a probe beam is switched by 3 dB due to an injected control beam at input light power levels of about 0.5 mW each. The dynamics of this all-optical switch is limited by RC time constants.     

一种带有U形波导的交叉信道单微环电光开关

本文利用耦合模理论,电光调制理论和传输矩阵法,提出了一个带有U形波导的交叉信道单微环电光开关的器件模型,并在谐振波长为1561 nm的情况下对该器件进行了仿真计算.结果表明,该电光开关的开关电压约为400 V,串扰小于-30 dB,插入损耗小于4 dB,开关时间仅为5.4 ps,其中微环上的上升和下降时间仅为0.32 ps.此外,该电光开关由单刀双掷开关控制,通过在微环和U形波导上加载驱动电压可实现三种开关状态,不仅可以实现光信号在两条输出信道的选择,还可以使两条信道同时有光信号输出.     

Design of a polymer directional coupler electro-optic switch using two-section reversed electrodes

By using the coupled mode theory, electro-optic modulation theory, conformal transforming method and image method, the structure is designed, the parameters are optimized, and the characteristics are analyzed for a polymer directional coupler electro-optic switch with two-section reversed electrodes. Simulation shows that the designed device exhibits excellent switching functions. Under the operation wavelength of 1550 nm, the electro-optic coupling region length is 4751 μm, the cross-state and bar-state voltages are about 1.22 and 2.65 V, and the insertion loss and crosstalk are less than 2.21 and −30 dB, respectively. By slightly adjusting the state voltages, the blight of the fabrication errors on the switching characteristics can be easily eliminated. The calculation results of the presented technique are in good agreement with those of the beam propagation method (BPM).     

Analysis and optimization of an InGaAsP/InP waveguide variable optical attenuator

An InGaAsP/InP waveguide variable optical attenuator (VOA) is proposed in this paper. The device consists of straight input and output waveguides and an S-bend waveguide. An electrode is deposited on a portion of the waveguide to form an active region so that its refractive index can be modified by a current injection, resulting in the variation of the transmitted optical power. The beam propagation method is employed in the numerical simulation and the device structure is optimized using a genetic algorithm. The optimized VOA has a low excess loss (<1 dB) and a large dynamic range of about 40 dB.