Patent ID: 7848647
Filing Date: 2010-12-07
Classification: G01J,G02F,H04B,H04J

Abstract:
1. An optical switch, comprising: a first polarization controller controlling a polarization direction of an optical signal; a nonlinear optical fiber to which the optical signal output from said first polarization controller is input; an optical pulse generator generating a control pulse with a wavelength different from that of the optical signal and providing the control pulse to said nonlinear optical fiber; a second polarization controller, placed between said optical pulse generator and said nonlinear optical fiber, aligning a polarization direction of the control pulse to a designated angle relative to the polarization direction of the optical signal; and a polarizer, placed at the output side of said nonlinear optical fiber, having a main polarization axis orthogonal to a polarization direction of the optical signal output from said nonlinear optical fiber, wherein the optical signal is selectively amplified with parametric amplification by the control pulse around a polarization direction of the control pulse propagating in the same direction as the optical signal in said nonlinear optical fiber, an angle between the polarization direction of the optical signal and the polarization direction of the control pulse is between 40 and 50 degrees.