Semiconductor monolithic wavelength selective router using a grating switch integrated with a directional coupler

A semiconductor monolithic wavelength selective router is proposed. An electrically tunable grating switch is monolithically integrated with a directional coupler. The effect of sidelobe on the demultiplexing characteristics of the router is investigated, and it is shown that the sidelobes degrade the wavelength crosstalk and introduce a power penalty for demultiplexing characteristics. A phase-synchronized sampled grating is introduced to suppress the sidelobes, and wavelength router switching is observed in this structure. The extinction ratio is over 10 dB at a current injection of 25 mA. Using this structure, power-penalty-free wavelength selective routing at a 2.5 Gb/s wavelength-division-multiplexed NRZ random pattern is demonstrated.