Characterization of a 2 $,\times,$ 2 Optical Switch Based on a Multitransducers Acousto-Optic Deflector

We present the experimental characterizations of a 2 times 2 optical switch based on a multitransducers acousto-optic tellurium dioxide (TeO₂) deflector. The deflector is realized by the superimposition of two phase gratings in a crystal. This switch is dedicated to the telecommunication applications. We show, in this study, that the crosstalk does not exceed -50 dB and the switch dependence to the optical polarization is low (-0.5 dB). Unfortunately, the insertion losses are quite high but they have not been optimized. A dynamic study shows a short configuration time less than 200 ns, and an optical transparency with regard to the data bit rate.