| 摘要 |
A piezoelectric optical switch (10) includes a planar Mach-Zehnder optical device having a piezoelectric rib (40) disposed on one or both of the waveguide structures (20, 30). The piezoelectric rib (40) deforms the waveguide structure creating a strain vector that alters the optical path of the waveguide (20). The piezoelectric rib (40) is offset from the propagatio n path in the waveguide (20). By positioning the piezoelectric rib (40) away from the waveguide, the strain components in the propagation path of the waveguide in the directions perpendicular to the direction of propagation, e.g., in the x-direction and the y-direction, are negligible. Since strains in these directions create birefringence, elimination of these strains will minimize the birefringence. The piezoelectric switch of the present inventio n provides a high extinction ratio and a low power consumption and small switching time expected of piezoelectric devices.
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