阅读说明：本技术 一种可调谐光开关、光网络节点及光网络 (Tunable optical switch, optical network node and optical network ) 是由 赵振宇 刘京徽 张奕泽 于 2021-09-30 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明公开了一种可调谐光开关、光网络节点及光网络,其中可调谐光开关包括：第一波导和沿第一波导内光传输方向依次设置并与第一波导耦合的第一谐振环和第二谐振环；第一波导的输入端接收入射光；第一谐振环用于滤除入射光中与之发生谐振的第一波长的光,滤除后的入射光记为中间光,中间光沿第一波导传输至第二谐振环；第二谐振环为可调谐谐振环；调谐第二谐振环,改变第二谐振环的光程,控制中间光在所述第一波导输出端的输出状态。本发明的可调谐光开关,级数少、阵列拓扑结构简单、体积小、制作成本低,实用性更强。(The invention discloses a tunable optical switch, an optical network node and an optical network, wherein the tunable optical switch comprises: the first waveguide, a first resonant ring and a second resonant ring are sequentially arranged along the light transmission direction in the first waveguide and are coupled with the first waveguide; the input end of the first waveguide receives incident light; the first resonant ring is used for filtering light with a first wavelength, which resonates with the first resonant ring, in incident light, the filtered incident light is marked as intermediate light, and the intermediate light is transmitted to the second resonant ring along the first waveguide; the second resonant ring is a tunable resonant ring; and tuning the second resonant ring, changing the optical path of the second resonant ring, and controlling the output state of the intermediate light at the output end of the first waveguide. The tunable optical switch has the advantages of few stages, simple array topological structure, small volume, low manufacturing cost and stronger practicability.)

1. A tunable optical switch is characterized by comprising a first waveguide, a first resonant ring and a second resonant ring, wherein the first resonant ring and the second resonant ring are sequentially arranged along the optical transmission direction in the first waveguide and are coupled with the first waveguide;

the input end of the first waveguide receives incident light;

the first resonant ring is configured to filter out light with a first wavelength that resonates with the incident light, where the filtered incident light is regarded as intermediate light, and the intermediate light is transmitted to the second resonant ring along the first waveguide;

the second resonant ring is a tunable resonant ring;

and tuning the second resonant ring, changing the optical path of the second resonant ring, and controlling the output state of the intermediate light at the output end of the first waveguide.

2. The tunable optical switch of claim 1, wherein the controlling the output state of the intermediate light at the output end of the first waveguide is specifically:

when the optical path of the second resonant ring is equal to the optical path of the first resonant ring, the tunable optical switch is in an on state, and the output end of the first waveguide outputs the intermediate light;

when the optical path of the second resonant ring is not equal to the optical path of the first resonant ring, the tunable optical switch is in an off state, and the output end of the first waveguide does not output light.

3. The tunable optical switch of claim 1, wherein the second resonant ring comprises a ring waveguide and an adjustable dielectric element disposed on an arm of the ring waveguide ring;

the adjustable medium unit is used for changing the optical path of the second resonant ring.

4. The tunable optical switch of claim 3, wherein the tunable dielectric element comprises a plurality of sub-elements uniformly disposed on the annular arm of the annular waveguide.

5. The tunable optical switch of claim 4, wherein the tunable medium used in the tunable medium unit comprises one or more of an electro-optic medium, a thermo-optic medium, and a magneto-optic medium.

6. The tunable optical switch of claim 1, wherein the first waveguide is a straight waveguide.

7. The tunable optical switch of claim 1, wherein the optical propagable length within the first resonant ring is an integer multiple of the first wavelength.

8. An optical network node comprising a tunable optical switch according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

9. An optical network comprising a tunable optical switch according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

Technical Field

The invention relates to a tunable optical switch, an optical network node and an optical network, belonging to the technical field of optical communication.

Background

With the rapid development of optical communication networks, conventional communication devices using electricity as a core cannot meet the requirements of high-speed and high-capacity optical communication, and thus, a large number of optical devices applicable to optical communication networks have been developed. An optical switch is an optical device that can physically switch or logically operate optical signals in an optical transmission line or an integrated optical circuit, and plays an important role in an optical communication network.

The prior art optical switches mainly include conventional mechanical optical switches and micro-electromechanical optical switches. The traditional mechanical optical switch directly couples light to an output end through a moving optical fiber, and has the problems of long action time (ms magnitude) of the optical switch, large volume and difficulty in manufacturing a large-scale optical switch matrix, and even more, has the problems of rebound jitter and poor repeatability.

The micro-electromechanical optical switch is a novel micro-electromechanical-optical integrated switch produced by combining a semiconductor micro-machining technology with micro-optics and micro-mechanical technologies. A typical Micro Electro-Mechanical optical switch is a MEMS (Micro Electro-Mechanical System) optical switch, but the MEMS optical switch has high requirements on manufacturing processes and technologies and high cost.

Disclosure of Invention

The present application aims to provide a tunable optical switch, an optical network node, and an optical network, so as to solve the problems of the existing optical switch, such as large volume, difficulty in forming an optical switch matrix, and difficulty in manufacturing.

The invention provides a tunable optical switch, which comprises a first waveguide, a first resonant ring and a second resonant ring, wherein the first resonant ring and the second resonant ring are sequentially arranged along the optical transmission direction in the first waveguide and are coupled with the first waveguide;

the input end of the first waveguide receives incident light;

the first resonant ring is configured to filter out light with a first wavelength that resonates with the incident light, where the filtered incident light is regarded as intermediate light, and the intermediate light is transmitted to the second resonant ring along the first waveguide;

the second resonant ring is a tunable resonant ring;

and tuning the second resonant ring, changing the optical path of the second resonant ring, and controlling the output state of the intermediate light at the output end of the first waveguide.

Preferably, the controlling the output state of the intermediate light at the output end of the first waveguide specifically includes:

when the optical path of the second resonant ring is equal to the optical path of the first resonant ring, the tunable optical switch is in an on state, and the output end of the first waveguide outputs the intermediate light;

when the optical path of the second resonant ring is not equal to the optical path of the first resonant ring, the tunable optical switch is in an off state, and the output end of the first waveguide does not output light.

Preferably, the second resonant ring comprises a ring waveguide and an adjustable medium unit arranged on the ring waveguide ring arm;

the adjustable medium unit is used for changing the optical path of the second resonant ring.

Preferably, the tunable dielectric unit includes a plurality of sub-units, and the sub-units are uniformly disposed on the ring arm of the ring waveguide.

Preferably, the tunable medium used in the tunable medium unit comprises one or more of an electro-optic medium, a thermo-optic medium, and a magneto-optic medium.

Preferably, the first waveguide is a straight waveguide.

Preferably, the light transmissible length in the first resonant ring is an integer multiple of the first wavelength.

A second aspect of the invention provides an optical network node using the above tunable optical switch.

A third aspect of the invention provides an optical network using the above-described tunable optical switch.

Compared with the prior art, the tunable optical switch has the following beneficial effects:

the tunable optical switch can realize the physical switching or logical operation of light in an optical transmission line or an integrated optical path only by using the first waveguide, the first resonant ring and the second resonant ring with the adjustable medium unit, and has the advantages of few stages, simple array topological structure, small volume, low manufacturing cost and stronger practicability.

The tunable optical switch of the invention has the functions of filtering and loading and unloading signals simultaneously due to the use of the resonant ring, so that the switching node equipment using the tunable optical switch is simple and is particularly suitable for a metropolitan area convergence ring of a metropolitan area optical network.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a tunable optical switch according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1 shows a first waveguide; 11 is an input end; 12 is an output end; 2 is a first resonance ring; 31 is a ring waveguide; and 32 is an adjustable media unit.

Detailed Description

In the following description, for purposes of explanation and not limitation, specific details are set forth, such as particular system structures, techniques, etc. in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments of the invention. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced in other embodiments that depart from these specific details. In other instances, detailed descriptions of well-known systems, devices, circuits, and methods are omitted so as not to obscure the description of the present invention with unnecessary detail.

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a tunable optical switch according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in fig. 1, the tunable optical switch according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a first waveguide 1, and a first resonant ring 2 and a second resonant ring sequentially arranged along the optical transmission direction in the first waveguide 1 and coupled to the first waveguide 1;

wherein the input end 11 of the first waveguide 1 receives incident light;

the first waveguide 1 can be a straight waveguide or a bent waveguide, and only one coupling region is required to be arranged between the first waveguide 1 and the first resonant ring 2; the first waveguide 1 and the second resonant ring also have only one coupling region.

The first resonant ring 2 in this embodiment is configured to filter out light of a first wavelength that resonates with the first resonant ring from incident light, where the filtered incident light is denoted as intermediate light, and the intermediate light is transmitted to the second resonant ring along the first waveguide 1;

the first resonance ring described above plays the same role as the notch filter in the present embodiment. When the first resonant ring is in a resonant state, the first resonant ring can filter out light with a first wavelength which resonates with the first resonant ring, and has wavelength selectivity. Therefore, the first resonance rings made of different materials and different sizes can be arranged to filter light with specific wavelength, so that light with penetrating wavelength cannot be influenced by the coupling of the first resonance rings, and the optical insertion loss of the through wavelength is low.

To achieve the wavelength selectivity of the first resonant ring 2, the light transmissible length in the first resonant ring 2 should be an integral multiple of the first wavelength. At this time, a strong field is formed in the first resonance ring 2, so that the light of the first wavelength coupled into the first resonance ring 2 resonates therewith.

Illustratively, the incident light includes a wavelength λ₁、λ₂And λ₃Is transmitted along the first waveguide 1 to the first resonance ring 2. The material of the first resonant ring 2 is silicon dioxide.

When the first resonance ring 2 is in a resonance state, λ₁And λ₂Coupled into the first resonant ring 2 (this process is referred to as "uploading") resonates with the first resonant ring 2 and bypasses therein, the bypassed λ₁And λ₂Traveling to the first waveguide 1 to be re-coupled into the first waveguide 1 (this process is called "downloading") and interfere with the incident light in the first waveguide 1 at a wavelength λ₁And λ₂Forming destructive interference with only the remaining wavelength of λ₃Is transmitted along the first waveguide 1 to the second resonance ring.

The second resonant ring in this embodiment is a tunable resonant ring.

And tuning the second resonant ring, changing the optical path of the second resonant ring and controlling the output state of the intermediate light at the output end 12 of the first waveguide 1.

Specifically, the second resonant ring is tuned, the optical path of the second resonant ring is changed, when the optical path of the second resonant ring is equal to the optical path of the first resonant ring 2, the tunable optical switch is in an on state, and the output end 12 of the first waveguide 1 outputs intermediate light;

when the optical path of the second resonant ring is not equal to the optical path of the first resonant ring 2, the tunable optical switch is in an off state, and the output end 12 of the first waveguide 1 outputs no light.

In a specific embodiment, the second resonant ring comprises a ring waveguide 31 and an adjustable dielectric element 32 arranged on the ring arm of the ring waveguide 31;

and an adjustable dielectric unit 32 for changing an optical path length of the second resonance ring.

Since the value of the optical path is equal to the refractive index of the annular waveguide 31 multiplied by the light propagation path in the annular waveguide 31, the tunable dielectric unit 32 can be tuned to change the refractive index of the annular waveguide 31 and thus change the optical path of the second resonant ring under the condition that the light propagation length in the second resonant ring is fixed.

Illustratively, the wavelength is λ₃Is transmitted along the first waveguide 1 to the second resonance ring, the tunable dielectric element 32 is tuned such that the optical path length of the second resonance ring is equal to the optical path length of the first resonance ring 2, while the second resonance ring is in a non-resonant state at a wavelength λ₃The light of (1), i.e. the intermediate light, cannot resonate with the annular waveguide 31, and cannot be coupled into the annular waveguide 31, but is directly transmitted along the first waveguide 1 to the output end 12 thereof for output, and at this time, the tunable optical switch is in an on state.

When the tunable optical switch is to be brought to an off state, the tunable dielectric unit 32 is tuned such that the optical path length of the second resonant ring is not equal to the optical path length of the first resonant ring 2. At this time, the second resonance ring is in a resonance state at a wavelength λ₃I.e., intermediate light, resonates with the annular waveguide 31, couples into the annular waveguide 31 (this process is referred to as "uploading"), and detours within the annular waveguide 31, the detoured λ₃On travelling to the first waveguide 1, is recoupled into the first waveguide 1 (this process is called "downloading") and interferes with the first waveguide 1 at a wavelength λ₃Forming destructive interference so that the output end 12 of the first waveguide 1 is free of light output.

The adjustable medium unit 32 of this embodiment may be an integral structure or a plurality of separate structures, and when the adjustable medium unit is a plurality of separate structures, the structure specifically includes: the tunable dielectric element 32 includes a plurality of sub-elements, which are uniformly or non-uniformly disposed on the arms of the ring waveguide 31.

Specifically, the tunable medium used in the tunable medium unit 32 includes one or more of an electro-optic medium, a thermo-optic medium, or a magneto-optic medium.

Illustratively, four sub-units are uniformly arranged on the ring arm of the ring waveguide 31, of the four sub-units, the tunable media of two sub-units are electro-optical media, and the tunable media of the remaining two sub-units are respectively thermo-optical media and magneto-optical media. The second resonant ring with the subunits can adjust the refractive index of the annular waveguide 31 electrically, thermally or magnetically, further achieve the purpose of adjusting the optical length of the second resonant ring, and has a wide application range.

The tunable optical switch of the present invention can realize the physical switching or logical operation of light in an optical transmission line or an integrated optical path only by using the first waveguide 1, the first resonant ring 2 and the second resonant ring with the adjustable medium unit 32, is an all-solid-state and on-chip integrated optical switch, and has the advantages of few stages, simple array topology structure, small volume, low manufacturing cost and strong practicability.

The tunable optical switch of the invention can realize higher-speed modulation frequency, fast switching action and higher efficiency by controlling the phase transmission characteristic at the coupling part of the first waveguide 1, the first resonant ring 2 and the second resonant ring and utilizing the principle of light beam interference.

The tunable optical switch of the invention has the functions of filtering and loading and unloading signals simultaneously due to the use of the resonant ring, so that the switching node equipment is simple, and is particularly suitable for a metropolitan area convergence ring of a metropolitan area optical network.

A second aspect of the invention provides an optical network node using the above tunable optical switch.

A third aspect of the invention provides an optical network using the above-described tunable optical switch.

Although the present application has been described with reference to a few embodiments, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions and alterations can be made herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the application as defined by the appended claims.