Optical fiber switch using four gate directional coupler and control pulse

摘要

The invention relates to an optical switch which is switchable by means of light. The switch includes a directional coupler having four gates, the first gate of which forms part of an input of the switch for receiving an optical data pulse series, the second gate forms part of an output of the switch and the third gate and the fourth gate are interconnected by means of a waveguide structure. This waveguide has a non-linear optical portion at an asymmetrical position in the waveguide. A control pulse signal is also introduced into the waveguide via the first gate of the directional coupler. The waveguide is asymmetrical for the data pulse series and symmetrical for the control pulse signal.