Optical switching device

US5841912A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• Robert Bosch GmbH · DE

Inventors

• Roland Mueller-Fiedler · Leonberg, DE
• Gottfried Flik · Leonberg, DE
• Hagen Schmidt · Lörrach, DE

Key dates

• Filing date: Feb 24, 1997
• Grant date: Nov 24, 1998
• Expiry date: Feb 24, 2017

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G02B2006/12145
• WIPO field: Optics
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

The optical switching device includes an optical layer (5) provided with at least one optical waveguide (11) having an entrance (13) and an outlet (15) and at least one other optical waveguide (21) provided in the optical layer (5) with another outlet (23); a piezoelectric layer (7) arranged on the optical layer (5); electrodes (9) for producing an acoustic wave provided on the piezoelectric layer (7); and a device for performing a Bragg light deflection with optical frequency shift by one of activating and deactivating the electrodes to optically couple the entrance (13) of the at least one optical waveguide (11) with one or the other of the outlets (15, 23). The invention also relates to an optical by-pass circuit which is a combination of two optical switching devices.