Abstract

Directional coupler (DC) optical switch,^1,2 based on the large refractive index change under the electric field is considered to be one of the candidates for BISDN³ applications, due to small size and high speed. The DC switches based on the semiconductor multi-quantum wells (MQW) reported till now^4,5 are not feasible for connection to fiber array, because their input/ output ends are separated by far lesser than the diameter of the conventional bare fiber, viz., 125 pm. In this paper we will report the switching operation in a compact DC switch feasible of fiber array coupling with small and low-loss bends. The total switch size of 2 mm is the smallest one feasible of direct fiber array coupling, reported till now up to our knowledge.

© 1994 Optical Society of America