Integrated all-optical switch in a cross-waveguide geometry

Abstract

An all-optical switch for future computer optical interconnect systems based on an optical cavity with a high quality factor and a nonlinear material is computionally investigated in two dimensional with a finite-difference time domain method. The signal and control bus are perpendicular to each other and can couple into a high- Q cavity consisting of a nonlinear material. It is designed in such a way that the control bus switches the signal bus on and off. Owing to the nonlinearity in the cavity, the resonance is shifted in frequency when increasing the power in the control bus so that the signal can pass through the resonator. The high Q of the cavity maximizes the interaction with the nonlinear material, and the symmetry of the cavity mode is designed in such a way that the cross talk between the signal bus and the control bus is minimized. © 2006 American Institute of Physics.