Optical crossbar switching using dynamic holograms written to ferroelectric liquid crystal spatial light modulators

As the data rates on optical fibre links increase, and the use of multiple wavelengths in fibre based systems becomes practical there is a increasing motivation to carry out optical switching. Optical space switches are a potential candidate for the slower network configuration functions. An `ideal´ switch would be optically transparent, low insertion loss, single mode, broadband, polarisation insensitive and have wavelength selectivity if required. These are formidable demands. Dynamic holographic elements have the potential to satisfy many of these demands with a robust routing architecture. The article outlines the technique, and some experimental results are presented