INTEGRATED OPTICAL SWITCHING DEVICE AND METHOD FOR SWITCHING LIGHT

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an improved optical device which uses a nonlinear optical medium. SOLUTION: The optical device provides an optical routing function of switching or redirecting a light signal. This device uses >=1 control light beam which is coupled with >=1 previously selected area of an optical channel formed in a substrate through the top surface of a planar structure by a relatively small control window. The presence of a control light beam in the control window increases the refractive index of the nonlinear optical medium as part of the channel. The part of this channel includes a structure functioning as an on/off filter for reflecting or transmitting the light signal propagated in the channel in response to the intensity of the control light beam supplied to the part of the channel. In several implementation examples, the optical channel interrupts a 2D PBG structure, which functions as a border for the optical channel.