Optical crosspoint switch module
First Claim
1. An optical switch module, comprising:
- a substrate;
a planar waveguide comprising a nonlinear optical medium disposed atop said substrate;
a patterned film disposed atop said waveguide, the film having a grating pattern;
means for simultaneously exposing selected sections of said patterned film to light for writing said grating pattern as a plurality of holograms in sections of said nonlinear medium corresponding to said selected sections of said patterned film;
a plurality of input optical fibers connected to said waveguide to input a plurality of light beams, each of said plurality of light beams diffracted by a corresponding one of said plurality of holograms; and
a plurality of output optical fibers connected to said waveguide, each of said output optical fibers receiving a corresponding one of said plurality of light beams diffracted by said holograms.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An optical crosspoint switch module is provided for a matrix of optical sources and receivers. The switch module includes a thin film waveguide atop a substrate, an array of input optical fibers aligned along one edge of the thin film waveguide, and a similar array of output fibers aligned along a second edge of the waveguide. The waveguide and/or the substrate comprise nonlinear optical material. A film containing a grating pattern to be written into the nonlinear medium as persistent but erasable holograms is placed above the waveguide. A spatial light modulator (SLM) is positioned above the patterned film and illuminated from above by either coherent or incoherent light. The SLM functions as a selective mask so that the grating pattern of the film can be written as holograms in selected areas of the nonlinear medium. The holograms written into the nonlinear medium diffract beams from the input fibers along the first edge of the waveguide to the output fibers along the second edge of the waveguide. After holograms have been written in the nonlinear medium to provide an input-to-output light beam distribution scheme, the holograms can be erased by uniform exposure of the nonlinear medium to a light source positioned below the medium. Thereafter, the light beam distribution scheme can be switched by changing the masking pattern of the SLM and writing new holograms in the nonlinear medium.
78 Citations
14 Claims
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1. An optical switch module, comprising:
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a substrate; a planar waveguide comprising a nonlinear optical medium disposed atop said substrate; a patterned film disposed atop said waveguide, the film having a grating pattern; means for simultaneously exposing selected sections of said patterned film to light for writing said grating pattern as a plurality of holograms in sections of said nonlinear medium corresponding to said selected sections of said patterned film; a plurality of input optical fibers connected to said waveguide to input a plurality of light beams, each of said plurality of light beams diffracted by a corresponding one of said plurality of holograms; and a plurality of output optical fibers connected to said waveguide, each of said output optical fibers receiving a corresponding one of said plurality of light beams diffracted by said holograms. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. An optical switch module, comprising:
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a substrate comprising nonlinear optical material; a planar waveguide disposed atop said substrate; a patterned film disposed atop said waveguide, said film having a grating pattern; means for simultaneously exposing selected sections of said patterned film to light for writing said grating pattern as a plurality of holograms in sections of said substrate corresponding to said selected sections of said patterned film; a plurality of input optical fibers connected to said waveguide to input a plurality of light beams, each of said light beams diffracted by a corresponding one of said holograms; and a plurality of output optical fibers connected to said waveguide, each of said output optical fibers receiving a corresponding one of said plurality of light beams diffracted by said holograms. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method of interconnecting and switching among a plurality of optical fibers, comprising the steps of:
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connecting a plurality of input optical fibers to a first edge of a planar waveguide, said waveguide including a nonlinear optical medium; connecting a corresponding plurality of output optical fibers to a second edge of said planar waveguide; providing a film containing a grating pattern atop said waveguide; providing a spatial light modulator atop said film, said spatial light modulator having a plurality of sections switchable between transparent and opaque modes; switching selected ones of said spatial light modulator sections to said transparent mode; illuminating said spatial light modulator to write said grating pattern simultaneously as a plurality of persistent but erasable holograms in sections of said nonlinear medium corresponding to said transparent sections of said spatial light modulator; and diffracting light beams from said input fibers to said output fibers in an interconnection scheme determined by said plurality of holograms. - View Dependent Claims (14)
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Specification