Optical device
AssigneeHitachi, Ltd.
InventorsHiroaki Inoue, Toshio Katsuyama, Hiroyoshi Matsumura, Shinji Sakano, Hitoshi Nakamura
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An optical device having a material exhibits an optical rectification effect is disclosed. The optical device utilizes direct current polarization which is induced in the material by a control light. The induction of the direct current polarization in the material by the control light changes the refractive index and absorption spectrum of the material. This is based on the so-called electrooptic effect and Franz-Keldysh effect. The present invention provides the optical device according to which external incident light can be modulated at high speed with the control light by utilizing the change of the refractive index or the change of the absorption spectrum.
Claims28
An optical device comprising:
- supporting means;
- and
- modulation means, supported by said supporting means, having an optical rectification material which is polarized by a control light, wherein said optical rectification material has an excitonic absorption wavelength which is smaller than the wavelength of said control light.
An optical device comprising:
- a semiconductor substrate;
- semiconductor layers formed on said semiconductor substrate, having an optical rectification layer which is polarized by a control light, wherein said optical rectification layer has an excitonic absorption wavelength which is smaller than the wavelength of said control light;
- a first surface of said semiconductor layers which accepts said control light;
- a second surface of said semiconductor layers which accepts incident light that is modulated at said optical rectification layer by said control light;
- and
- a third surface of said semiconductor layers which delivers output light that is the modulated incident light.
An optical device comprising:
- a semiconductor substrate;
- an optical waveguide formed onm said semiconductor substrate and having selectively actuated optical waveguide paths and a crossing part for said paths;
- and
- an optical rectification layer formed at said crossing part so as to switch light traversing along one of said optical waveguide paths into another optical waveguide path of said optical waveguide in response to a control light, wherein said optical rectification layer has an excitonic absorption wavelength which is smaller than the wavelength of said control light.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.