High Speed Low Loss Optical Switch

High performance fiberoptic switch is an enable technology for new generation optical telecommunication and fully secured quantum communication/cryptography applications. Current fiberoptic switches do not simultaneously meet the requirements of high speed, low loss, high extinction ratio, and high reliability. Based on the successful development/production of a variety of industrial leading solid-state high speed fiberoptic switches, Agiltron Incorporated proposes to fabricate a novel total reflection switch, using electro-optical crystals with large electro-optic effect and excellent thermal stability. The small loss tangent of the new crystal at high frequencies permits operation of these devices at high speed. This breakthrough fiberoptic switch platform holds the promise of realizing practical high-speed optical switches with performance and cost that is not attainable before. By using novel material engineered, the proposed electro-optic switch offers leading edge performance attributes, which include high-speed, low optical insertion loss, and easy binary drive. The design eliminates the need for organic materials and waveguides, as well as temperature compensation and feedback control, which introduce intrinsic drawbacks. Moreover, the design is extremely simple, compact, lightweight, ultra reliable, temperature insensitive and polarization independent, and cost effective. It is anticipated that state-of-the-art performance in several key specifications can be achieved through this program. Prototype electro-optic 1x4 switches will be fabricated to demonstrate functionality in Phase I.