Abstract

Optical switching devices that can operate at picosecond to femtosecond speeds are on demand because of interest to develop multigigabit multi-user, local-area and long- haul communication networks.¹ Fiber optic based switches realized to date, require high power, or use long fiber lengths,²³ thereby making them impractical for implementing large networks. There is therefore interest to research optical materials and switching architectures that can simultaneously downscale device geometries and power requirement for switching.

© 1994 Optical Society of America