A novel twin-ridge-waveguide optical amplifier switch

A novel twin ridge-waveguide optical amplifier switch is reported. The technique of hydrogen passivation of acceptors has been applied to decrease the current spreading in the region between the ridges. The incorporation of a passive waveguide below the active waveguide leads to the result that using 1.53 mu m TE polarized light, through and cross states, each with only 1 dB insertion loss, fiber-to-fiber, can be selected in a device of 360 mu m length by varying the currents to each ridge with a total current of 140 mA. A minimum crosstalk of less than -33 dB was achieved when the cross state was selected. This is the first report of a twin ridge-waveguide amplifier switch with such a low-loss, low-polarization sensitivity, and low crosstalk.<>