All-optical integrated device for self-routing applications

We present the theory and design of a fiber compatible all-optical integrated device which, by means of the swing effect experimented by a Gaussian beam propagating in a nonlinear planar waveguide with variable core width, presents a new kind of all-optical self-routing operation. The corresponding local modal amplitude distribution in this guide provides an integrated device with an effective graded index integrated lens immersed in a nonlinear planar medium with an effective transverse dependence of the Kerr coefficient; therefore, by a suitable design of the integrated device, the power-depending swing effect of the center of a Gaussian beam envelope can be used in all-optical processing and routing where header-data separation is required.