Liquid crystal polarization independent beam steering switches for operation at 1.5 microns

The rapidly evolving demands of telecommunications systems have created a new market for high capacity all-optical photonic switches. Holographic optical switching may offer a scalable and reliable approach to realizing such systems. The advantages and technical challenges associated with this technology will be discussed, with reference to two prototype demonstrators recently produced under the auspices of the ROSES project. The first is a single beam deflector operating as a 1×8 switch and the second is a 3×3 optical switch which demonstrates the principle of crossbar operation