Three-dimensional broadband polymer optical waveguide switch matrix

A 1 × 4 3D broadband polymer optical waveguide switch matrix is demonstrated. The fabricated device, which contains four vertically coupled thermo-optic switches, has a compact construction (only 9 mm in length) and a power consumption of 45 mW. Compared with the corresponding planar ones, this 3D switch matrix has two distinct features. First, the light signal can be easily switched to any output port by operating only a single switch unit. Second, the switching extinction ratio, cross talk, and insertion loss of this matrix are practically wavelength independent over the whole C band. We also show that this structure can be extended quite simply to an M × M nonblocking switch matrix. © 2007 Optical Society of America.