High-speed collinear acoustooptic switches for wavelength division multiplexing photonic switching by gigahertz SAWs

Collinear acoustooptic (AO) switches are investigated for use in wavelength-division-multiplex networks and photonic switching systems. Preliminary experiments of wavelength-selective switching with conventional AO devices are described. In order to apply the collinear AO switches to fast switching systems, improvement of the AO devices is discussed by decreasing the interaction length and increasing the SAW frequency to gigahertz, range. The switching characteristics of the proposed device are theoretically evaluated.