Polarization-independent all-wave polymer-based TIR thermooptic switch

The optimal design of a polymer-based thermooptic (TO) switch using a total internal reflection (TIR) effect is proposed to improve switching performance. Numerical calculations show that this type of optical switch can achieve an ultrabroad optical bandwidth as well as a low polarization dependent loss. The devices fabricated with different half branch angles consume driving powers from 25 to 66 mW. The switches also show fiber-to-fiber insertion losses at 2.8 dB and polarization dependent losses (PDLs) at 0.2 dB. The measured rising and falling times are 1.5 and 2 ms, respectively. The optical bandwidth of the devices, which is limited by the material absorption from the fluorinated polymer, is quite large extending from 630 to 1630 nm.