Demonstration of pulse controlled all-optical switch/modulator

An all-optical pulse controlled switch/modulator based on evanescent coupling between a polymer slab waveguide and a single mode fiber is demonstrated. Very fast all-optical modulation/switching is achieved via Kerr effect of the nonlinear polymer placed in the evanescent region of the optical fiber. Local refractive index perturbation (Delta n = -1.45612 x 10(-5)) on the thin film leads to 0.374 nW power modulation at the fiber output, which results in a switching efficiency of approximate to 1.5%. (C) 2014 Optical Society of America