INTEGRATED OPTICAL SWITCH

摘要

PURPOSE:To obtain a low cross talk switch and a large scale optical switch by connecting a supersaturation absorbing region having light threshold characteristic to the exiting end of an optical switch region. CONSTITUTION:In an integrated optical switch in which plural optical switches are arranged, a supersaturation absorbing region having a light threshold characteristic is connected to the exiting end of an optical switch region constituted with at least one or more light switch. And a supersaturation absorbing region 3 is provided with a semiconductor optical amplifier to which a current injection is performed in the extent so as not to have a gain or a semiconductor laser. Furthermore, a semiconductor optical amplifier 2 having a saturation characteristic is used at the exiting end. Moreover, a semiconductor optical amplifier 4 is used between the exiting end of the optical switch 1 and the region 3 and the integrated optical switch is constituted by connecting at least two or more stages thereof.