A new integrated all-optical switch based on a micro-cavity

The proposed all optical switching device consists of a micro-cavity surrounded by a NLO material and sandwiched between two waveguides NLO switching can be expected if the cavity is close to resonance Then by increasing the intensity of the incident light. the high Q-resonance frequency will shift towards the incident frequency due to the refractive index change in the NLO material In this way most of the power IS coupled into the micro-cavity Because of the symmetric shape of the device. most of the power of the micro-cavity then will be coupled back into the upper waveguide It can be seen that coupling between the mode of the wave guide and the mode of the micro-cavity is possible This device shows a certain analogy with a NLO Fabry-Perot where high and low power output are the transmitted and reflected wave, respectively Because of the high4 values very low switching powers are sufficient when using presently available polymers like AKZO NOBEL-DANS Due to the small dimensions, the device can be integrated in a complex optical circuit.