Low-Power All-Optical Switch Based on Time-Reversed Microring Laser

• Published in: IEEE photonics journal Vol. 4; no. 6; pp. 2229 - 2235
• Main Author: Mock, A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 01-12-2012
• Subjects: Absorption; coherent effects; Couplings; integrated nanophotonic systems; modeling; Nonlinear optics; Optical resonators; Optical switches; Optical waveguides; optics; Theory and design; waveguide devices; Waveguide lasers
• ISSN: 1943-0655; 1943-0647
• DOI: 10.1109/JPHOT.2012.2229265

An all-optical switch based on an absorbing microring resonator laterally coupled to two waveguides is described theoretically using the coupling of modes in time formalism and numerically using the finite-difference time-domain method. The operating principle of the device is based on the recently published time-reversed laser concept. The proposed switch relies on a combination of coherent interference and absorption in the microring and does not require nonlinear refractive index changes. It has a smaller footprint than other approaches, and it is capable of converting frequency- or phase-shift-keyed digital signals to amplitude-shift-keyed signals for direct detection.