Mach-Zehnder interferometer switch with a high extinction ratio over a wide wavelength range.
We have realized a novel Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) thermo-optic switch that can operate over a much wider wavelength range than a conventional MZI switch. We constructed the novel MZI switch by incorporating a phase-generating coupler (PGC) as an optical coupler. The PGC generates a nonlinear wavelength-dependent phase, which functions as a virtual wavelength-dependent delay part that cancels out the wavelength dependence of a MZI. We fabricated the novel MZI switch on a silica-based planar light-wave circuit and achieved a low insertion loss of less than 1.6 dB and a high extinction ratio of 30 dB over a wide wavelength range of 160 nm.
Mizuno
Takayuki
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NTT Photonics Laboratories, NTT Corporation, Atsugi, Kanagawa 243-0198, Japan. mizuno@aecl.ntt.co.jp
Takahashi
Hiroshi
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Kitoh
Tsutomu
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Oguma
Manabu
M
Kominato
Toshimi
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Shibata
Tomohiro
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