Abstract

We report the formation of a surface-normal non-blocking crossbar based on a unique wavelength switching scheme. The demonstrated device is shown in Fig. 1 where photopolymer-based volume holograms are employed in conjugation with graded index (GRIN) lenses. A prototype polymer-based volume hologram for multiple-wavelength 3 × 3 crossbar is experimentally demonstrated at 755, 765 and 775 nm. The unique beam routing property of GRIN lens reduces nine wavelengths to three wavelengths while maintaining the required nine (3 × 3) individual interconnects. The elimination of edge-coupling significantly enhances the packaging reliability. Furthermore, such a configuration is compatible with the implementation of vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers where the characteristic of azimuthal symmetry is maintained in the waveguide substrate [1].

© 1996 Optical Society of America