Monolithic Lossless Optical Switch for Plastic Fiber Systems

Photonic switches operating at wavelengths compatible with low-cost plastic fiber systems can enable the implementation of such systems for a wide variety of applications ranging from industrial machine control and local area networks to military applications such as phased array antennas. While recent advances in plastic fibers have led to the development of high speed fibers and efficient detectors, there is a distinct lack of efficient photonic switches compatible with these systems. CoreTek proposes the development and commercialization of a novel monolithic, lossless, optical switch with low power requirements. Our approach involves the design of a novel geometry to solve the problems of high RF power requirements in current switches, along with "band-structure engineering" to provide significant performance enhancements.