MACH-ZEHNDER OPTICAL SWITCH STRUCTURE BASED ON COUPLING OF DOUBLE RESONANT CAVITIES

摘要

A Mach-Zehnder optical switch structure based on coupling of double resonant cavities comprises a pair of input waveguides (1, 2), a front coupler (3), an upper interference arm (4), a lower interference arm (5), a rear coupler (6), a pair of output waveguides (7, 8), and a pair of optical resonant cavities (41, 51). An input end of the front coupler (3) is connected to the pair of input waveguides (1, 2) and is used for dividing a path of light into two paths of light, and the two paths of light enter the upper interference arm (4) and the lower interference arm (5) separately. The rear coupler (6) combines the two paths of light into one path of light to be coupled into a certain optical waveguide of the pair of output waveguides (7, 8). One end of each output waveguide (7, 8) is connected to an output end of the rear coupler (6). Two ends of the upper interference arm (4) and the two ends of the lower interference arm (5) are connected to the front coupler (3) and the rear coupler (6) respectively. The pair of optical resonant cavities (41, 51) are coupled with the upper interference arm (4) and the lower interference arm (5) respectively. The optical switch utilizes the advantage of drastic phase changes of wave lengths near resonance points and the two-arm interference characteristic of the Mach-Zehnder interference structure. Therefore, light signals can be output from different ports by slightly changing the refractive index of one resonant cavity.