Topic
Optical switch
About: Optical switch is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 28538 publications have been published within this topic receiving 351176 citations.
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Papers
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TL;DR: How photonics' primary role will be to provide interconnection between racks of electronic routing elements and how fast wavelength switching can provide a high-capacity distributed switch fabric that will allow these packet routers to scale to higher capacities are discussed.
Abstract: The ongoing growth of data traffic from existing and new applications poses a challenge to the packet-switched network infrastructure. High-capacity transport can be achieved in such networks by using dense wavelength-division-multiplexed systems, and reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexers allow the optical layer to provision wavelength-based circuits between routing nodes. However, construction of the high-capacity packet routers provides significant scaling issues due to complexity, interconnect, and thermal limits. In this paper we will not seek to cover all aspects of optical packet switching and routing but outline some of the challenges facing the construction of such future routers and describe the role photonics can have in overcoming some of these issues. We will discuss how photonics' primary role will be to provide interconnection between racks of electronic routing elements and describe how fast wavelength switching can provide a high-capacity distributed switch fabric that will allow these packet routers to scale to higher capacities. The fast wavelength switching can be seen as the packet analog of wavelength-based circuit switching of today's transparent optical networks
86 citations
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TL;DR: In this paper, the conditions required to achieve bistability in two-mode semiconductor laser via the nonlinearity associated with gain saturation are discussed, and the laser can be switched between the bistable states through coherent or incoherent optical control.
Abstract: The conditions required to achieve bistability in two‐mode semiconductor lasers via the nonlinearity associated with gain saturation are discussed. The laser can be switched between the bistable states through coherent or incoherent optical control. Wavelength bistability in such a laser is demonstrated experimentally.
86 citations
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TL;DR: In this paper, a silica-based 8/spl times/8 strictly nonblocking thermooptic matrix switch with a high extinction ratio and low loss was proposed, which achieved an average extinction ratio of 60.3 dB and an average insertion loss of 5.1 dB.
Abstract: This paper describes a silica-based 8/spl times/8 strictly nonblocking thermooptic matrix switch with a high-extinction ratio and low loss. We realized this matrix switch by using a configuration which combines a double Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) switching unit and an N/spl times/N matrix arrangement thus reducing the total waveguide length. The 8/spl times/8 matrix switch was fabricated on a 4-in wafer using planar lightwave circuit technology. We obtained an average extinction ratio of 60.3 dB and an average insertion loss of 5.1 dB. The operating wavelength bandwidth completely covers the gain band of practical erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs).
86 citations
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors demonstrate a path to integrate barium titanate thin films with strong Pockels coefficients into silicon photonic structures, and highlight various design options, discuss the actual fabrication process, and present experimental results of functional passive and active structures.
Abstract: Ultrafast and highly efficient optical modulators that are based on the Pockels effect are key components of today's optical communication networks. For the next generation of photonic links, silicon photonic technology is used to establish a new wave of densely integrated optic components. However, this new technology cannot exploit the advantages of using the Pockels effect for optical switching for two reasons: First, silicon does not exhibit any Pockels effect, and second, attempts to combine nonlinear materials with silicon photonics have been cumbersome. Here, we demonstrate a path to integrate barium titanate thin films with strong Pockels coefficients into silicon photonic structures. We highlight various design options, discuss the actual fabrication process, and present experimental results of functional passive and active structures. Examples include couplers and interferometers, as well as active, electrically driven nonvolatilely tunable ring resonators with a tunability of 4 μW/nm. Our results represent a major advancement in the field of ultralow-power silicon photonic switches based on nonlinear oxides, and demonstrate the potential of novel applications based on the hybrid barium titanate–silicon photonic platform.
86 citations
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23 Jan 1991
TL;DR: In this article, optical phase modulators for simultaneous transmission of two independent baseband digital data signals or two independent subcarrier multiplexed signals are disclosed. But the authors do not consider the use of multiple modulated subcarriers.
Abstract: Optical communication methods and apparatus are disclosed for transmitting two or more optical signals with different optical carrier frequencies on a single optical fiber with high spectral efficiency. Each optical carrier is typically modulated with multiple modulated subcarriers. In one embodiment, an optical phase modulator provides cancellation of second order intermodulation products in each optical signal, thereby permitting the optical carrier frequencies to be spaced by 2f max , where f max is the maximum modulation frequency. In another embodiment, a single sideband optical phase modulator provides cancellation of second order intermodulation products and one signal sideband, thereby permitting the optical carrier frequencies to be spaced by f max . Quadrature optical phase modulators for simultaneous transmission of two independent baseband digital data signals or two independent subcarrier multiplexed signals are disclosed.
86 citations