Abstract

The use of arrays of reversible holograms is an attractive method to perform reconfigurable free-space interconnections of N inputs x N outputs high bit rate communication channels. Indeed, when the number of channels N increases, holographic switching systems have in principle less optical losses than those based on shuttered geometries such as vector-matrix or matrix-matrix architectures [1]. All the holographic switching system reported until now are made with a single deflection stage and they are therefore not suited to single mode fibre interconnections [2-4]. However, using single mode output fibres is very important because it enables the insertion of single mode optical amplifiers (either semi-conductor amplifiers or doped-fibre amplifiers) in order to compensate the switching losses and to realize quasi-transparent sytems for cross-connects applications.

© 1995 Optical Society of America