Novel silicon asymmetric optical switches with transverse injection st
ructure have been proposed and fabricated which are based on total int
ernal reflection and free-carrier effect. The switches have a quite sh
ort operation length of about 200 mum. The device performance was meas
ured at the wavelength of 1.3 mum. It shows that the crosstalk is less
than -11.4 dB at an injection current of 85 mA. Response time is 100
ns. They are very suitable for silicon monolithic optoelectronic integ
ration