Port-Alternated Switch-and-Select Optical Switches

We propose and demonstrate a port-alternated switch-and-select architecture for planar waveguide-based optical switches. The proposed architecture reduces the number of intersections on a path, which leads to both small insertion loss and small path dependence. We demonstrate an 8 x 8 optical switch based on the proposed architecture using a silicon photonic platform, which exhibits a fiber-to-fiber insertion loss of 5.7 dB with a crosstalk below -30 dB. We discuss the scalability of the switch, including the propagation and bend losses of the waveguides.

Automated summary

The proposed port-alternated switch-and-select architecture for planar waveguide-based optical switches reduces the number of intersections on a path, leading to small insertion loss and path dependence. An 8 x 8 optical switch based on this architecture demonstrated on a silicon photonic platform exhibited a fiber-to-fiber insertion loss of 5.7 dB with crosstalk below -30 dB. The scalability of the switch, including propagation and bend losses of the waveguides, was also discussed.