Abstract

Silicon is the most important material in semiconductor electronics. Its technology is highly developed and the material is available in perfect quality at a low price. Hence it is a logical step to examine its possibilities for integrated optical purposes in order to come to low cost applications. Optical switches are fundamental devices in integrated optics and have already received much attention in recent years [1,2,3,4]. Due to the symmetry properties of the silicon crystal a linear electrooptic (Pockels-) effect cannot exist.

© 1994 Optical Society of America