A newly developed hybrid-integrated Symmetric Mach-Zehnder (HI-SMZ) all-optical switch is reported. For integration, we chose the Symmetric Mach-Zehnder (SMZ) structure rather than the Polarization-Discriminating Symmetric Mach-Zehnder (PD-SMZ) structure which is similar to SMZ but more often used in experiments using discrete optical components. We discuss advantages and disadvantages of SMZ and PD-SMZ to show that SMZ is more suitable for integration. We also discuss about the use of SOAs as nonlinear elements for all-optical switches. We conclude that, although the ultrafast switching capability of SMZ is limited by the gain compression of SOAs, the very low switching energy is more important for practical devices. We then describe the HI-SMZ all-optical switch. This integration scheme has advantages which include low loss, low dispersion silica waveguides for high speed operation and ease in large scale integration of many SMZs with other optical, electrical, and opto-electrical devices. We show that a very high dynamic extinction ratio is possible with HI-SMZ. We also examine HI-SMZ with 1 ps pulses to show its ultrafast capability. Finally, we describe a 168 to 10.5 Gbps error-free demultiplexing experiment which is to our best knowledge the fastest experiment with an integrated device.

The hybrid electrical/optical multi-chip integration technique for optical modules for optical network system has been developed. Employing the technique, a 44 broadcast-and-select type optical matrix switch module has been realized. The module consists of four sets of silica waveguide 1 : 4 splitters/4 : 1 combiners, four 4-channel arrays of polarization insensitive semiconductor optical amplifiers with spot-size converters as optical gates, printed wiring chips for electrical wiring and single mode fibers for optical signal interface on planar waveguide platform fabricated by atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition. All the gates and the wiring chips were mounted precisely onto the platform at once in flip-chip manner by self-align technique using AuSn solder bumps. Coupling loss between the waveguide and the SOA gate was estimated to be 4.5 dB. Averaged fiber-to-fiber signal gain, on-off ratio and polarization dependent loss for each of the signal paths was 7 dB 2 dB, more than 40 dB and 0.5 dB, respectively. High speed 10 Gb/s photonic cell switching as short as 2 nsec has been successfully achieved.

Spot-size-converter integrated semiconductor optical amplifiers have been developed as gate elements for optical switch matrices. An S-shape waveguide has been introduced to prevent re-coupling of unguided light to the output fiber. An angled-facet structure effectively suppressed light reflection at the end facets. Consequently, a high extinction ratio of 70 dB and a high fiber-to-fiber gain of 20 dB were achieved. Sufficient optical coupling characteristics to a flat-ended single-mode fiber with a coupling loss of 3.5 dB were also demonstrated.

The hybrid electrical/optical multi-chip integration technique for optical modules for optical network system has been developed. Employing the technique, a 44 broadcast-and-select type optical matrix switch module has been realized. The module consists of four sets of silica waveguide 1 : 4 splitters/4 : 1 combiners, four 4-channel arrays of polarization insensitive semiconductor optical amplifiers with spot-size converters as optical gates, printed wiring chips for electrical wiring and single mode fibers for optical signal interface on planar waveguide platform fabricated by atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition. All the gates and the wiring chips were mounted precisely onto the platform at once in flip-chip manner by self-align technique using AuSn solder bumps. Coupling loss between the waveguide and the SOA gate was estimated to be 4.5 dB. Averaged fiber-to-fiber signal gain, on-off ratio and polarization dependent loss for each of the signal paths was 7 dB 2 dB, more than 40 dB and 0.5 dB, respectively. High speed 10 Gb/s photonic cell switching as short as 2 nsec has been successfully achieved.

We have developed InGaAs-based VCSELs operating around 1.1 µm for high-speed optical interconnections. By applying GaAsP barrier layers, temperature characteristics were considerably improved compared to GaAs barrier layers. As a result, 25 Gbps 100 error-free operation was achieved. These devices also exhibited high reliability. No degradation was observed over 3,000 hours under operation temperature of 150 and current density of 19 kA/cm2. We also developed VCSELs with tunnel junctions for higher speed operation. High modulation bandwidth of 24 GHz and a relaxation oscillation frequency of 27 GHz were achieved. 40 Gbps error-free operation was also demonstrated.

Spot-size-converter integrated semiconductor optical amplifiers have been developed as gate elements for optical switch matrices. An S-shape waveguide has been introduced to prevent re-coupling of unguided light to the output fiber. An angled-facet structure effectively suppressed light reflection at the end facets. Consequently, a high extinction ratio of 70 dB and a high fiber-to-fiber gain of 20 dB were achieved. Sufficient optical coupling characteristics to a flat-ended single-mode fiber with a coupling loss of 3.5 dB were also demonstrated.