Reconfigurable optical interconnection using a two-dimensional vertical to surface transmission electrophotonic device array

Abstract

A dynamic reconfiguration of optical interconnections for enhanced flexibility in photonic switching systems is realized using a two-dimensional vertical to surface transmission electrophotonic (VSTEP) device array. A matrix operational scheme for the VSTEP array is proposed and demonstrated. Through this operation, functions for light emission and for electrically programmable spatial light modulation are obtained in a single chip of the VSTEP array and a high-speed electronic addressing of 1 ns per one line for the matrix is also confirmed.