Abstract
The digital optical switch is currently considered a key component for guided-wave photonic switching applications because of its polarization- and wavelength-insensitivity. Many semiconductor digital Y-branch switches employ current injection l’2 which provides large refractive changes, but reconfiguration times limited to nsec. For multi-gigabit-per-second optical time division demultiplexing, a voltage-controlled device is necessary. We have previously shown that InGaAs/InGaAlAs Barrier, Reservoir, and Quantum Well Electron Tranfer Structures (BRAQWETS) provide large refractive index changes as well as high-speed capability3, allowing waveguide electrooptic devices with extremely small voltage-length products . However the digital Y-branch switch presents a special challenge in that it requires modal evolution. Therefore even in the presence of a large refractive index change, good crosstalk performance and extreme compactness may be difficult to acheive simultaneously.
© 1994 Optical Society of America
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