A low-voltage 8*8 Ti:LiNbO/sub 3/ switch with a dilated-Benes architecture

An 8*8 switch array with a dilated-Benes architecture that greatly relaxes the crosspoint extinction ratio requirements needed to achieve low overall switch array crosstalk is discussed. This, combined with the low uniform switching voltages (9.2+0.2 V) of the 48 directional coupler crosspoints, facilitates high-speed low-crosstalk operation. The crosspoints can be switched in about 1 ns. The switch array is fully packaged with permanently attached single-mode fiber pigtails. The high data transfer rate inherent in lithium niobate switches in general, combined with the low crosstalk and high switching speed of this switch array, is a good match to the requirements of time-multiplexing switching.