| 摘要 |
<p>The present invention is directed to fast all-optical switches and attenuators with at least four channels, including: at least one input channel (1002) and at least one output channel (1004); a plurality of optical junction elements (1008, 1010, 1016, 1018, 1020, 1022) controllable to direct light from any input channel to any of the at least one output channels, wherein each element couples three optical paths, and comprises at least one controllable polarization rotator (1014,1012,1024), the state of which determines whether and how much of the light entering one of the paths exits through at least one of the other paths; and a controller which controls the state of each controllable polarization rotator, wherein the controller is configured to control all of the members of at least one set of two or more of the controllable polarization rotators to be in a same state at a given time.</p> |
