Abstract

A liquid-crystal switch capable of switching nearly 100% of unpolarized light from one multimode fiber to another had been conceived and demonstrated experimentally. The switch uses a double interaction with a single layer of nematic liquid crystal in which the liquid alignment is initially in plane at 90° to the light propagation. This four-fiber optical reversing switch has a simple structure, a low insertion loss, and a low operating voltage. It should find a wide range of applications in fiber-optic communication systems.

© 1980 Optical Society of America

Liquid-crystal fiber-optic switch

Richard A. Soref
Opt. Lett. 4(5) 155-157 (1979)

Electrically controlled optical switch for multimode fiber applications

R. E. Wagner and J. Cheng
Appl. Opt. 19(17) 2921-2925 (1980)

Electrooptic 4 × 4 matrix switch for multimode fiber-optic systems

Richard A. Soref
Appl. Opt. 21(8) 1386-1393 (1982)

Liquid-crystal electro-optic modulator based on electrohydrodynamic effects

M. A. Muriel and J. A. Martin-Pereda
Opt. Lett. 5(11) 494-495 (1980)

Low-cross-talk 2 × 2optical switch

Richard A. Soref
Opt. Lett. 6(6) 275-277 (1981)