1 July 2011 Advance in thermo-optical switches: principles, materials, design, and device structure
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Abstract
All-optical networking can be the sole approach to provide the huge bandwidth required for future networks. The essential elements in such an optical network are optical switches. A number of options have been proposed in order to implement them efficiently. We focus on thermo-optical switches. First, the physical principles of the thermo-optic effect are briefly introduced. A description of the most common technologies used for the fabrication of thermo-optic switches is provided along with the values of thermo-optic coefficient for a number of materials. The main steps useful in order to design thermo-optical switches are also briefly introduced. Finally, a bird's-eye view of the main and recent proposals of switches based on the thermo-optic effect is reported and their performances compared.
©(2011) Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)
Giuseppe Coppola, Luigi Sirleto, Ivo Rendina, and Mario Iodice "Advance in thermo-optical switches: principles, materials, design, and device structure," Optical Engineering 50(7), 071112 (1 July 2011). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.3574378
Published: 1 July 2011
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CITATIONS
Cited by 84 scholarly publications.
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KEYWORDS
Switches

Waveguides

Thermal optics

Switching

Polymers

Refractive index

Silicon

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