Coupled GaAs multiple-quantum-well channel waveguides includingquadratic electrooptic effect

Two coupled channel waveguides using GaAs multiple quantum wells are investigated using an improved coupled-mode theory for anisotropic waveguides and the effective index method. The quadratic electrooptic effect in the multiquantum-well structures is taken into consideration. It is shown that only a moderate electric field for multiquantum-well waveguides is necessary to achieve the optical power switching compared with that required for a bulk GaAs waveguide     

Analysis of power-dependent switching between radiatively coupledplanar waveguides

Effective coupling between two remote optical waveguides without branching sections can be achieved in a three-guide system with multimode central waveguide. We investigate the nonlinear power switching of c.w. laser radiation by such radiatively coupled waveguides. It is shown that effective all-optical switches with spatially well separated input/output channels can be realized although the influence of multimode interference on the switching characteristics becomes more pronounced for increasing thickness of the central guide. Different coupling regimes are specified, and the changes in switching characteristics during the transformation from one regime to another is studied. Numerical calculations for the critical power are compared with an approximate analytical expression. It is also shown that, at a moderate input power, a small number of modes determines the switching behavior     

Improved all-optical switching in a three-slab nonlineardirectional coupler with gain

We propose and study numerically with a split-step finite-element method, an all-optical switching device made of three nonlinear active optical planar waveguides. Solving directly the nonlinear partial differential equations for the transverse electric polarised fields, the method can analyze real slab structures, where the gain is introduced by doping the guiding region with high erbium concentration. The effect of different amount of gain and loss on the switching performance is investigated. The introduction of suitable gain overcomes the problem of performance degradation due to losses, decreases the switching power and allows the input power to be successfully switched, by a simple power control, among all the three output ports     

Two-mode interference photonic waveguide switch

Based on the two-mode interference principle and the free-carrier plasma dispersion effect, a two-mode interference (TMI) photonic waveguide switch with double carrier injection has been designed and fabricated for application in fiber-optic communications. It consists of an input Y-branch with single-mode ridge waveguides, a TMI waveguide coupling section, and an output Y-branch with single-mode ridge waveguides. The single-mode waveguides and the two-mode waveguide are composed of a SiGe waveguide layer on a Si substrate. The width of the TMI region of the switch is two times that of the single-mode waveguide. On the top of the TMI region and one side of the TMI region, two abrupt p-n junctions are made to inject the carriers into the optical modulation region; on the other side of the TMI region, an abrupt carrier collection region is made to collect the carriers when they are forward biased, so that the double carrier injection photonic waveguide switch has the lowest injection current density. The waveguide layers are made of SiGe/Si material, and the rib waveguides are realized by reactive ion etching. The carrier injection regions and the carrier collection region are formed by ion implantation. The input and output facets of the waveguides were ground and polished by a mechanical method. The switch was characterized by using a 1310-nm InGaAsP/InP heterostructure laser diode. Its insertion loss and ON-state crosstalk were measured to be 2.74 and -15.5 dB, respectively, at a total switching current of 110 mA. The switching time is 180 ns, and the fastest switching time is up to 30 ns.     

Low-loss and high-extinction-ratio silica-based strictlynonblocking 16×16 thermooptic matrix switch

A low-loss and high-extinction-ratio silica-based 16×16 thermooptic matrix switch is demonstrated. The switch, which employs a double Mach-Zehnder interferometer switching unit and a matrix arrangement which reduces the total waveguide length, is fabricated with 0.75% refractive index difference waveguides on a 6-in silicon wafer. The average insertion loss and the average extinction ratio are 6.6 and 55 dB, respectively. The total power consumption is 17 W     

Polymer waveguide thermooptic switch with low electric powerconsumption at 1.3 μm

A polymer waveguide thermooptic 2×2 switch with low electric power consumption is demonstrated. The switch consists of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer with Cr thin-film heaters. The waveguides are fabricated using acrylic polymers synthesized from deuterated methacrylate and deuterated fluoromethacrylate monomers. The total insertion loss of the switch is 0.6 dB at a wavelength of 1.3 μm, including fiber coupling losses and waveguide losses. The switching power is as low as 4.8 mW, and the rise and fall times are both 9 ms     

SSFLC optical directional coupler switch with a short devicelength: a proposal

A novel vertical directional coupler waveguide switch composed of ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) is proposed and analyzed. The surface stabilized ferroelectric liquid crystal break (SSFLC) is used as an active separation layer between passive waveguides. To decrease the switching length, the waveguide switch is based on the power crossing the separation layer rather than coupling between waveguides. The calculated results relevant to the switch parameters such as the switching length, switching time, capacitance, and extinction ratio are presented. Because of the large birefringence of FLC, a very short switching length, less than 60 μm, is possible     

All-optical switching with low-peak power in microfabricated AlGaAswaveguides

We report all-optical switching with low-peak power in a microfabricated AlGaAs waveguide operating at 1.6 μm. We show that by using a 1-μm long microfabricated strongly-guided waveguide with 0.8 μm by 0.9 μm mode cross-sectional area, switching is achieved with an average power of 1.2 mW for 82-MHz mode-locked 430 fs pulses. The estimated peak pump power and pulse energy inside the microfabricated waveguide were ~30 W and ~14.6 pJ, respectively, which is 5-10 times lower than the values needed with conventional waveguides. In terms of a practicality index defined via switching power times waveguide length, this waveguide has around the best value     

Low loss and high extinction ratio strictly nonblocking 16×16thermooptic matrix switch on 6-in wafer using silica-based planarlightwave circuit technology

We describe a silica-based 16×16 strictly nonblocking thermooptic matrix switch with a low loss and a high extinction ratio. This matrix switch, which employs a double Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) switching unit and a matrix arrangement to reduce the total waveguide length, is fabricated with 0.75% refractive index difference waveguides on a 6-in silicon wafer using silica-based planar lightwave circuit (PLC) technology. We obtained an average insertion loss of 6.6 dB and an average extinction ratio of 53 dB in the worst polarization case. The operating wavelength bandwidth completely covers the gain band of practical erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs). The total power consumption needed for operation is reduced to 17 W by employing a phase-trimming technique which eliminates the phase-error in the interferometer switching unit     

Guided beams in concave metallic waveguides

A new waveguiding technique employs a single concave metallic strip as the guiding medium. With appropriate curvature of the strip, the beam modes may be described in terms of Hermite-Gaussian functions parallel to the strip and Airy functions in the perpendicular direction. Such devices would be especially useful in frequency or power regimes where appropriate dielectric waveguides are not available. Experiments have been performed with concave waveguides formed to circular and helical geometries.     

Micromechanical optical switching with voltage control using SOImovable integrated optical waveguides

Optical switching is demonstrated using movable integrated optical waveguides fabricated on silicon-on-insulator substrates. The switching effect is produced by the voltage-controlled micromechanical deflection of the movable waveguides. The dynamic response of the deflection is studied. A contrast ratio of 12 dB of switching is obtained using an applied voltage of less than 10 V. At 20 V, the contrast ratio is about 40 dB     

Comparative analysis of the method-of-lines for three-dimensionalcurved dielectric waveguides

We discuss the effects of waveguide geometry on the radiation loss of tightly curved multimode dielectric waveguides. Three waveguide geometries are investigated: a ridge waveguide, a buried waveguide, and an interdiffused waveguide. We compare the effective index method with both semi- and full-vectorial method-of-lines analyses for these waveguide geometries. This comparison shows that the effective index method is accurate for curved waveguides except where the outer confinement region is in cut-off or, in the case of TM-polarization, for the ridge waveguide. In the latter case, the full-vectorial method-of-lines predicts a resonant feature of the TM-mode radiation loss of curved ridge waveguides; this is not predicted by either the semivectorial method-of-lines or the effective index method     

Compact Blocking 8×8 Optical Matrix Switch on S01 with Taper Waveguides and Self-Aligned Total Internal Reflection Mirrors

Novel folding 8×8 matrix switches based on silicon.on-insulator(SOI)were demonstrated.In the design,single mode rib waveguides and multimode interferences(MMIs)are connected by optimized tapered waveguides to reduce the mode coupling loss between the two types of waveguides.And the self-aligned method was applied to the key integrated turn· ing mirrors for perfect positioas and low loss of them.The switch element( SE) with high switching speed and low power consumption is presented in the matrix.The average insertion loss of the matrix is about 21dB and the excess loss of one mir· rot is measured to be 1.4dB.The worst crosstalk is larger than -21dB.Experimental results show that some of the main characteristics of optical matrix switches are developed in the modified design,which agree with the theoretieal analyses.     

Theoretical and experimental studies on active Y-junctions in optical waveguides

Theoretical and experimental results are presented on single-modeY-junction switching devices in Ti-diffused LiNbO3waveguides. The operation of these devices relies on a redistribution, by means of the elcctrooptic effect, of the power in the input waveguide before it is transmitted to the output waveguides of theY-junction. Measured performance is shown to be predicted satisfactorily by a theoretical model of aY-junction in homogeneous, planar waveguide. Transmission losses of less than 1 dB and extinction ratios of about 15 dB have been obtained in a device with a junction half-angle of 0.57°.     

Tapered polymer single-mode waveguides for mode transformation

This paper presents a tapered polymer waveguide structure for coupling light between optical waveguides with differing geometries. Optical fibers, lasers, and other photonic integrated circuit components can be coupled with tapered waveguides. The polymer waveguide performs a mode transformation between different mode shapes and sizes. For example, the mode transformation can be from an elliptical laser diode mode to that of a circular optical fiber mode. The input and output of a tapered waveguide structure are analyzed, for the case of laser to fiber coupling, in order to determine the effect of misalignments on the coupling efficiency. Adiabaticity in waveguide propagation is discussed. The fabrication of our polymer waveguides is also described     

Wavelength switching by mode interference between longitudinally coupled photonic crystal channel waveguides

A wavelength switching mechanism of two longitudinally coupled and independently contacted photonic crystal channel waveguides is reported. The waveguides are coupled by a photonic crystal section of one period in /spl Gamma/-M orientation. The cavity lengths are chosen such that the cavity modes exhibit slightly different mode spacings and allow for a wavelength switching by mode interference between the two cavities.     

1550nm低推挽电压聚合物定向耦合电光开关的设计

应用保角变换法、镜像法、耦合模理论和电光调制理论设计了一种推挽电极聚合物脊形波导定向耦合电光开关,阐述了基本结构和工作原理,给出了器件的设计和优化过程,主要分析了耦合长度、开关电压、输出光功率、插入损耗、串扰等特性.为了实现正常的开关功能,讨论了制作公差、波谱漂移以及单模光纤耦合损耗对器件性能的影响.模拟结果表明,所设计的开关的耦合长度为3082μm,开关电压为2.14V;插入损耗小于1.14dB,串扰小于-30dB.与BPM仿真结果以及实验结果的对比表明,文中提出的波导和电极的理论分析与计算方法具有较高的精度和可行性.     

Asymmetric X-junction thermooptic switches based on fluorinatedpolymer waveguides

Thermooptic 2×2 switches based on low-loss fluorinated polymer waveguides have been demonstrated. For the waveguide possessing a low-loss around the 1.55-μm wavelength, crosslinkable fluorinated poly(arylene ethers) (FPAE) is developed as a core material and perfluorocyclobutane (PFCB) is used as a cladding material. To enhance the fabrication tolerance and to achieve a low switching power, asymmetric X-junctions with a Mach-Zehnder interferometer are exploited for the polymeric waveguide switches. An inverted rib waveguide structure is fabricated by filling up the etched groove on a lower cladding with the core polymer. The switch exhibits a crosstalk of less than -20 dB, a switching power of 10 mW, and an insertion loss of 4.5 dB     

Analysis of grating-coupled radiation in GaAs:GaAlAs lasers and waveguides

Grating-coupled radiation in GaAs:GaAlAs lasers and waveguides is analyzed. A general formulation is developed for arbitrary-shaped gratings which need not be small in size. Two methods are used to solve the resulting equations in the case of rectangular-shaped gratings. The first is a perturbation technique and the second is iterative in nature. The iterative procedure converges to a numerical exact solution in many cases of practical interest and indicates that the perturbation results are quite accurate. Curves are presented for radiated power from traveling waves as a function of grating tooth height, tooth width, refractive index, waveguide thickness, and period for rectangular gratings in heterostructure waveguiding geometries. It is shown that radiation is not a monotonically increasing function of tooth height, but rather maxima occur when the teeth are half the optical wavelength in the material. Also, in particular geometries with an air:GaAs grating interface, radiated power of a mode can exceed 100 cm^-1.     

New experimental results of optically activated BMFET switches withdifferent cell design

Optically activated semiconductor devices play a very attractive role in power circuits control applications. In fact, due to the very high galvanic isolation between the control circuit side and the power circuit side, these specific devices can solve the safety problems and eliminate the unintentional switching. In an earlier work, a detailed theoretical and numerical analysis of the BMFET as an optically controlled switch was presented. In this paper, the authors complete the previous analysis by presenting experimental results on the optical switching of various kinds of bipolar mode field effect transistor (BMFET) obtained with a low-power optical source. The BMFETs used are different in design parameters and geometries. The results obtained are in good agreement with the authors' previous theoretical and numerical previsions