1:N Space Division Switches for Optical Routing, Reconfigurable Interconnections,and Time and Wavelength-Division Switching Applications

摘要

We report the first observation of two-mode intensity bistability in intracavity-coupled in-plane lasers and oxide-confined vertical-cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) operating under room-temperature continuous wave (CW) conditions. These devices have been integrated in a monolithic all-optical 1xN routing switch. The VCSEL sections act as output couplers for modulation signals introduced to the main ridge-waveguide in-plane laser or the side in-plane control lasers, and the combined devices are capable of time-division multiplexing and demultiplexing operations. Hysteresis in the input-output transfer characteristics of the coupled in-plane lasers and VCSELs also leads to bistable operation over a range of bias conditions. The on/off contrast ratio is >29 dB, and there is negligible crosstalk between the output channels. These devices have a wide variety of potential applications, including logic gates and data buffers in optical switching networks.