Fast optical switch and its applications in optical communication

• US 9,746,746 B2
• Filed: 08/01/2015
• Issued: 08/29/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 08/01/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Celeris Systems, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Angel Martinez, Mohammad A. Mazed, Rex Wiig
• Inventors: Mazed, Mohammad A, Wiig, Rex, Martinez, Angel
• Primary Examiner(s): Wong, Eric
• Application Number:
  US14/756,096
• Publication Number:
  US 20160033849A1
• Time in Patent Office: 759 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/353 the optical element being a shutter, baffle, beam dump or opaque element absorbers on light guide termination G02B6/243
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/3592 Means for removing polarization dependence of the switching means, i.e. polarization insensitive switching light guides coupling with polarization selective and adjusting means G02B6/27
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/0054 Structure, phase transitions, NMR, ESR, Moessbauer spectra
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/0147 based on thermo-optic effects G02F1/132 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/3132 of directional coupler type
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/3521 using a directional coupler
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/3536 Four-wave interaction
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/365 in an optical waveguide structure G02F1/377, G02F1/395 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 2201/12 electrode
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 2202/32 Photonic crystals
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 2203/585 Add/drop devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 14/0212 using optical switches or wavelength selective switches [WSS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 11/0005 Switch and router aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2011/0011 using wavelength conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2011/0016 using wavelength multiplexing or demultiplexing

Abstract

A fast optical switch can be fabricated/constructed, when vanadium dioxide (VO₂) ultra thin-film or a cluster of vanadium dioxide particles (less than 0.5 microns in diameter) embedded in an ultra thin-film of a polymeric material or in a mesh of metal nanowires is activated by either an electrical pulse (a voltage pulse or a current pulse) or a light pulse just to induce rapid insulator-to-metal phase transition (IMT) in vanadium dioxide ultra thin-film or vanadium dioxide particles embedded in an ultra thin-film of a polymeric material or in a mesh of metal nanowires. The applications of such a fast optical switch for an on-Demand optical add-drop subsystem, integrating with or without a wavelength converter are also described.

Claims

1. An optical switch comprising:

a first optical waveguide and a second optical waveguide,

wherein the first optical waveguide is less than 5 microns in width,

wherein the second optical waveguide is less than 5 microns in width,

wherein the first optical waveguide is optically coupled with the second optical waveguide,

wherein a section of the first optical waveguide is partially parallel to a section of the second optical waveguide,

wherein the said section of the first optical waveguide is positioned at less than 5 microns or at 5 microns, with respect to the said section of the second optical waveguide,

wherein the said section of the first optical waveguide and the said section of the second optical waveguide comprise;

(i) an ultra thin-film of thickness less than 0.1 microns,

wherein the ultra thin-film further comprises;

vanadium dioxide of an area less than 0.2 microns²,

wherein the ultra thin-film is electrically coupled with two metal electrodes, wherein the ultra thin-film is receiving a voltage pulse or a current pulse via the two metal electrodes, just to induce insulator-to-metal (IMT) phase transition in vanadium dioxide,

or

(ii) a polymeric thin-film, wherein the polymeric thin-film further comprises;

vanadium dioxide particles, wherein each vanadium dioxide particle has a diameter less than 0.5 microns,

wherein the polymeric thin-film is electrically coupled with two metal electrodes,

wherein the polymeric thin-film is receiving a voltage pulse or a current pulse via the two metal electrodes, just to induce insulator-to-metal (IMT) phase transition in vanadium dioxide particles,

or

(iii) a mesh of metal nanowires, wherein the mesh of metal nanowires comprises;

vanadium dioxide particles, wherein each vanadium dioxide particle has a diameter less than 0.5 microns,

wherein the mesh of metal nanowires is electrically coupled with two metal electrodes,

wherein the mesh of metal nanowires is receiving a voltage pulse or a current pulse via the two metal electrodes, just to induce insulator-to-metal (IMT) phase transition in vanadium dioxide particles.

2. The optical switch according to claim 1, further comprising a directionally coupled optical waveguides configuration.

3. The optical switch according to claim 1, further comprising coupling with a wavelength multiplexer or a wavelength demultiplexer.

4. The optical switch according to claim 1, further comprising coupling with a wavelength tunable multiplexer or a wavelength tunable demultiplexer.

5. The optical switch according to claim 1, further comprising coupling with a wavelength tunable photonic crystal multiplexer or a wavelength tunable photonic crystal demultiplexer.

6. The optical switch according to claim 1, further comprising coupling with a wavelength converter.

7. The optical switch according to claim 6, comprising:

a wavelength converter, wherein the wavelength converter comprises;

As₂S₃ chalcogenide material or two-dimensional (2-D) photonic crystals As₂S₃ chalcogenide material or graphene on two-dimensional (2-D) photonic crystals of silicon waveguide.

8. The optical switch according to claim 6, further comprising:

a wavelength converter, wherein the wavelength converter comprises;

a semiconductor optical amplifier or a quantum dot based semiconductor optical amplifier.

9. An optical switch comprising:

a first optical waveguide and a second optical waveguide,

wherein the first optical waveguide is less than 5 microns in width,

wherein the second optical waveguide is less than 5 microns in width,

wherein the first optical waveguide is optically coupled with the second optical waveguide,

wherein a section of the first optical waveguide is partially parallel to a section of the second optical waveguide,

wherein the said section of the first optical waveguide is positioned at less than 5 microns or at 5 microns, with respect to the said section of the second optical waveguide,

wherein the said section of the first optical waveguide and the said section of the second optical waveguide comprise;

(i) an ultra thin-film of thickness less than 0.1 microns,

wherein the ultra thin-film further comprises;

vanadium dioxide of an area less than 0.2 microns²,

wherein the ultra thin-film is receiving a light pulse, just to induce insulator-to-metal (IMT) phase transition in vanadium dioxide,

or

(ii) a polymeric thin-film, wherein the polymeric thin-film further comprises;

vanadium dioxide particles, wherein each vanadium dioxide particle has a diameter less than 0.5 microns,

wherein the polymeric thin-film is receiving a light pulse, just to induce insulator-to-metal (IMT) phase transition in vanadium dioxide particles,

or

(iii) a mesh of metal nanowires further comprises;

vanadium dioxide vanadium dioxide particles, wherein each vanadium dioxide particle has a diameter less than 0.5 microns,

wherein the mesh of metal nanowires is receiving a light pulse, just to induce insulator-to-metal (IMT) phase transition in vanadium dioxide particles.

10. The optical switch according to claim 9, further comprising:

an optical waveguide to propagate a beam of a light pulse and a focusing lens for focusing the beam of the light pulse,

wherein an optical intensity of the beam of the light pulse is in a range of 0.1 mJ/cm² to 50 mJ/cm²,

wherein a pulse width of the beam of the light pulse is in a range of in the range of 0.001 nanoseconds to 0.1 nanoseconds.

11. The optical switch according to claim 9, further comprising:

an optical waveguide to propagate a beam of a light pulse and a metamaterial based lens for focusing the beam of the light pulse below diffraction resolution limit.

12. The optical switch according to claim 9, further comprising:

a directionally coupled optical waveguide configuration.

13. The optical switch according to claim 9, further comprising coupling with a wavelength multiplexer or a wavelength demultiplexer.

14. The optical switch according to claim 9, further comprising coupling with a wavelength tunable multiplexer or a wavelength tunable demultiplexer.

15. The optical switch according to claim 9, further comprising coupling with a wavelength tunable photonic crystal multiplexer or a wavelength tunable photonic crystal demultiplexer.

16. The optical switch according to claim 9, further comprising coupling with a wavelength converter.

17. The optical switch according to claim 16, comprising:

a wavelength converter, wherein the wavelength converter comprises;

As₂S₃ chalcogenide material or two-dimensional (2-D) photonic crystals As₂S₃ chalcogenide material or graphene on two-dimensional (2-D) photonic crystals of silicon waveguide.

18. The optical switch according to claim 16, further comprising:

a wavelength converter, wherein the wavelength converter comprises;

a semiconductor optical amplifier or a quantum dot based semiconductor optical amplifier.

19. An optical network processor system comprising:

(a) an optical switch,

wherein the optical switch comprises;

a first optical waveguide and a second optical waveguide,

wherein the first optical waveguide is less than 5 microns in width,

wherein the second optical waveguide is less than 5 microns in width,

wherein the first optical waveguide is optically coupled with the second optical waveguide,

wherein a section of the first optical waveguide is partially parallel to a section of the second optical waveguide,

wherein the said section of the first optical waveguide is positioned at less than 5 microns or at 5 microns, with respect to the said section of the second optical waveguide,

wherein the said section of the first optical waveguide and the said section of the second optical waveguide comprise;

(i) an ultra thin-film of thickness less than 0.1 microns,

wherein the ultra thin-film further comprises;

vanadium dioxide of an area less than 0.2 microns²,

wherein the ultra thin-film is electrically coupled with two metal electrodes,

wherein the ultra thin-film is receiving a voltage pulse or a current pulse via the two metal electrodes, just to induce insulator-to-metal (IMT) phase transition in vanadium dioxide,

or

(ii) a polymeric thin-film, wherein the polymeric thin-film further comprises;

vanadium dioxide particles, wherein each vanadium dioxide particle has a diameter less than 0.5 microns,

wherein the polymeric thin-film is electrically coupled with two metal electrodes, wherein the polymeric thin-film is receiving a voltage pulse or a current pulse via the two metal electrodes, just to induce insulator-to-metal (IMT) phase transition in vanadium dioxide particles,

or

(iii) a mesh of metal nanowires, wherein the mesh of metal nanowires comprises;

vanadium dioxide particles, wherein each vanadium dioxide particle has a diameter less than 0.5 microns,

wherein the mesh of metal nanowires is electrically coupled with two metal electrodes,

wherein the mesh of metal nanowires is receiving a voltage pulse or a current pulse via the two metal electrodes, just to induce insulator-to-metal (IMT) phase transition in vanadium dioxide particles; and

(b) an optical add-drop subsystem,

wherein the optical add-drop subsystem comprises;

a wavelength multiplexer and a wavelength demultiplexer,

wherein the optical switch is optically coupled with the optical add-drop subsystem.

20. The optical network processor system according to claim 19, further comprising:

a wavelength converter.