A reconfigurable thin-film filter-based 2 x 2 add-drop fiber-optic switch structure

Abstract

A reconfigurable 2 /spl times/ 2 add-drop fiber-optic switch structure is proposed by incorporating the independent mechanical control and alignment of an off-the-shelf thin-film filter with a reflective optical element. Cascading several 2 /spl times/ 2 add-drop switches gives a low-cost polarization-independent wavelength routing system with the limitation in optical loss that can be compensated by using optical amplifiers. The experimental result indicates a measured average optical loss of <1.30 dB at the center wavelength. In addition, the measured optical coherent crosstalk values at the center wavelength are -15 and -22 dB when the thin-film filter and the mirror are in the optical path, respectively. A very low polarization-dependent loss of <0.07 dB is also investigated.