All-Optical 2$\,\times\,$ 2 Switch Based on Kerr Effect in Highly Nonlinear Fiber for Ultrafast Applications

An all-optical ultrafast 2times2 spatial switch able to process signals beyond 160 GHz has been presented. It is based on polarization rotation induced by cross-phase modulation in highly nonlinear fiber. Bar or cross switch configuration can be set by an optical control pump signal. Bit-error-rate measurements in the case of 10-Gb/s nonreturn-to-zero packets confirm the scheme effectiveness and its cascadability. A wavelength dependence lower than 1 dB on the whole C-band, makes the proposed switch suitable for wavelength-division-multiplexing applications