All-optical controlled variable optical attenuator using photochromic sol gel material

Author

Ke, Xianjun ; Wang, Michaael R. ; Li, Daqun

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Univ. of Miami, Coral Gales, FL, USA

Volume

18

Issue

9

fYear

2006

fDate

5/1/2006 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1025

Lastpage

1027

Abstract

In this letter, we report an all-optical controlled polarization-dependent variable optical attenuator using a photochromic sol gel material developed by us. Optical attenuation is achieved by means of photochromic phase modulation in a Mach-Zehnder interferometric waveguide device fabricated with the sol gel film. A 5-mW/mm² light illumination at 532 nm on a 3-mm-long sol gel arm was found to produce a complete 2π phase shift between the two arms of the device, resulting in a 15-dB attenuation dynamic range for transverse-electric-polarization light. The response time of the device is around 50 ms. The wavelength-dependent performance of the device has been characterized across the entire C-band.

Keywords

integrated optics; light interferometry; light polarisation; optical attenuators; optical communication equipment; optical control; optical fibre communication; optical materials; optical modulation; optical waveguides; phase modulation; photochromism; sol-gel processing; thin films; 3 mm; 4 to 8 GHz; 50 ms; 532 nm; C-band; Mach-Zehnder interferometer; all-optical control; attenuation dynamic range; interferometric waveguide device; light illumination; optical attenuation; phase modulation; phase shift; photochromic sol gel material; polarization-dependent optical attenuator; response time; sol gel film; transverse electric polarization light; variable optical attenuator; wavelength-dependent performance; Optical attenuators; Optical control; Optical devices; Optical films; Optical interferometry; Optical materials; Optical polarization; Optical variables control; Optical waveguides; Photochromism; All-optical control; photochromic; sol gel; variable optical attenuator (VOA);

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Photonics Technology Letters, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1041-1135

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/LPT.2006.873483

Filename

1621265