Optical switch, element therefor, and optical switching method
AssigneeHitachi, Ltd.
InventorsHideto Momose, Yuuichi Sawai, Mitsutoshi Honda, Takashi Naitou, Hiroyuki Akata, Tsukasa Ookawa
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Abstract
An optical switch, in which focal position of beams is adjusted to provide a high switching efficiency and a high stability in action without increasing a light source output of a control light, comprising a condensing means for making a signal light and a control light convergent and incident upon a nonlinear optical thin-film and wherein irradiation of the control light causes a change of the nonlinear optical thin-film in refractive index to thereby change the signal light into a transmitted light or a reflected light to take out the same as an output signal.
Claims22
An optical switch comprising condensing means for making a signal light and a control light convergent and incident upon a nonlinear optical thin-film and wherein irradiation of the control light causes a change of the nonlinear optical thin-film in refractive index to thereby change the signal light into a transmitted light and a reflected light, either of which is taken out as an output signal.
An optical switching element comprising a nonlinear optical thin-film, high refractive-index transparent materials provided on both sides of the nonlinear optical thin-film with the nonlinear optical thin-film therebetween, an incident port which is provided on one of the high refractive-index transparent materials and through which a signal light and a control light are made incident upon the nonlinear optical thin-film, and output ports which are provided on the other of the high refractive-index transparent materials and through which the signal light is taken out as output signals in the form of a transmitted light and a reflected light owing to change of the nonlinear optical thin-film in refractive index, which is caused by irradiation of the control light.
An optical switching element comprising a nonlinear optical thin-film, optical substrate transparent materials provided on both sides of the nonlinear optical thin-film with the nonlinear optical thin-film therebetween, an incident port which is provided on one of the optical substrate transparent materials and through which a signal light and a control light are made incident upon the nonlinear optical thin-film, and output ports which are provided on the other of the optical substrate transparent materials and through which the signal light is taken out as output signals in the form of a transmitted light and a reflected light owing to change of the nonlinear optical thin-film in refractive index, which is caused by irradiation of the control light, and one of the optical substrate transparent materials is provided with a waveguide, by which lights composed of the signal light and the control light are gradually decreased in diameter toward the nonlinear optical thin-film, the other of the optical substrate transparent materials being provided with a waveguide, through which the transmitted light is output.
An optical switching method comprising making a signal light and a control light incident upon a nonlinear optical thin-film, and taking out a transmitted light and a reflected light of the signal light as output signals owing to change of the nonlinear optical thin-film in refractive index, which is caused by irradiation of the control light.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.