All-optical switch based on digital micromirrors

A dynamic 1 * 4 all-optical switch based on digital mirror arrays is described and analyzed. A total insertion loss of -5.5 dB, crosstalk of less than – 36.8 dB, and bit-error rates of less than 10/sup -12/ have been measured at 2.5 Gb/s. The performance of the switch in multiwavelength applications to variable optical attenuator and multicasting is described.