Title:
【発明の名称】光学制御式光スイッチを組み込んだ光波長分割多重クロスコネクト
Document Type and Number:
Japanese Patent JP2003527626
Kind Code:
A
Abstract:
A semiconductor device for modulating an optical power light beam with an optical signal light beam contains a detector diode for absorbing the signal beam and a quantum well modulator diode for absorbing the power beam. Both diodes are reverse biased, allowing for absorption of the power beam at photon energies below the band gap energy of the quantum well layer. Absorption of the signal beam creates carriers that screen the field in the detector diode, lowering the bias voltage. Because top and bottom layers of the entire structure are made to be highly conductive, overall voltage is fixed, leading to a simultaneous change of voltage in the modulator diode, altering absorption by electroabsorption mechanisms. In a first embodiment, the diodes are oriented such that decreased voltage in the detector diode leads to decreased voltage in the modulator diode; the device is used as an optically controlled optical switch. Alternately, the voltage in the modulator diode increases, and the device is used as a gated photodetector. The optically controlled optical switch may be incorporated into an optical cross-connect for use in wavelength-division-multiplexed systems. The cross-connect contains an array of switches, and can transfer signal information between beams of different wavelength. A given set of input signals can be selectively switched to a given set of output signals of different wavelength.
Inventors:
Miller, David A. Bee.
Application Number:
JP2001537138A
Publication Date:
September 16, 2003
Filing Date:
October 31, 2000
Export Citation:
Assignee:
The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University
International Classes:
G02F1/015; G02F1/017; G02F1/025; G02F1/35; G02F2/00; G02F2/02; H04Q11/00; (IPC1-7): G02F1/015; G02F1/025; G02F1/35; G02F2/02
Attorney, Agent or Firm:
Hironobu Onda (1 person outside)