Novel optically-controlled optical switch based on intimate integration of surface-normal photodiode and waveguide electroabsorption modulator for wavelength conversion

For optical-electronic-optical (o-e-o) conversion without the use of conventional electronics, we introduce a novel, highly-integrated, chip-scale, optically-controlled optical switch that incorporates a surface-normal photodiode (PD) and a waveguide electroabsorption modulator (EAM) on the same substrate. Such an integrated optical switch avoids the difficulties and the limitations of ordinary o-e-o conversion, and eliminates the need for separate packaging of its individual parts.