Rearrangeable nonblocking polymer waveguide (4*4) switching matrix and its application to future OFDM systems

A rearrangeable nonblocking polymer waveguide (4*4) switching matrix operating at lambda =1.55 mu m is described which features a power consumption of as low as 30 mW per single switch. The matrix consists of eight thermo-optic (TO) (2*2) directional coupler (DC) type switches. A fibre-chip-fibre insertion loss of <9 dB, polarization sensitivity of <0.5 dB and response time of <1 ms were measured. The crosstalk was measured to be between -21.5 dB and -32.5 dB for different switching configurations. The matrix is packaged and pigtailed with fibre arrays to form a (4*4) switching module. The module is fixed in a control unit to form a rack-mountable (4*4) space stage. In this paper, the application and fabrication process of the space switches are described. The different polymer waveguide TO switching devices, i.e. a (2*2) switch, a (4*4) switch and a (4*4) matrix, and a fully engineered rack-mountable (4*4) space stage are reported.