Abstract

An optical 2×2 exchange-bypass switch that can be coupled with an optical perfect shuffle network is a critical element in building an optical multistage interconnection networks. We describe a design for optical exchange-bypass switch based on a modified Mach-Zender interferometer (MZI). The mirror in one arm is replaced by a patterned multi-level mirror that reverses the spatial ordering of adjacent channels. A multielement liquid crystal switch in conjunction with polarizing beam splitters and combiners determines which data-channel pairs will be sent along the exchange arm of the MZI. We describe the design and fabrication of the multilevel mirror and present experimental results for an eight-channel exchange-bypass switch.

© 1992 Optical Society of America