×

Optical switching element

  • US 7,403,678 B2
  • Filed: 11/29/2006
  • Issued: 07/22/2008
  • Est. Priority Date: 05/12/2006
  • Status: Expired due to Fees
First Claim
Patent Images

1. An optical switching element comprising:

  • a substrate;

    a lower cladding layer formed on the substrate;

    an upper cladding layer positioned above the lower cladding layer;

    a dielectric layer formed on the surface of the upper cladding layer and having a dielectric constant greater than the upper cladding layer,a multimode waveguide for propagating multimode light and having an electro-optical effect;

    one or a plurality of first single mode waveguides connected to one end of the multimode waveguide;

    a plurality of second single mode waveguides connected to the other end of the multimode waveguide;

    a first electrode arranged in the vicinity of one edge on one side of the multimode waveguide;

    a second electrode arranged in the vicinity of the other edge on the same side of the multimode waveguide;

    a third electrode arranged on the other side of the multimode waveguide; and

    a core layer sandwiched between the lower cladding layer and the upper cladding layer and formed with the multimode wave guide, the first single mode waveguide and the second single mode waveguide,wherein;

    the core layer has a refractive index greater than both of the upper cladding layer and the lower cladding layer,the first electrode and the second electrode the first electrode and the second electrode are formed on the surface of the dielectric layer, andthe third electrode is formed between the substrate and the lower cladding layer,the first electrode and the second electrode are arranged to be positioned respectively on at least two of a plurality of luminescent spots formed by multimode interference apart from each other in an optical mode field generated by the light propagating through the multimode waveguide, andan optical path is switched between the first single mode waveguide and the second single mode waveguide by applying voltage between the first electrode and the third electrode and between the second electrode and the third electrode.

View all claims
  • 1 Assignment
Timeline View
Assignment View
    ×
    ×