OVER 15 DB GAIN FROM A MONOLITHICALLY INTEGRATED OPTICAL SWITCH WITH AN AMPLIFIER

An optical switch has been monolithically integrated with a semiconduc tor optical amplifier on an InP substrate. The switch is of the total internal reflection type. The device has achieved 15 dB chip gain at 1 530 nm wavelength and fiber-to-fiber lossless transmission over a wave length range of 80 nm. Crosstalk attenuation varies from 13 to 6 dB. T his device demonstrates the feasibility of lossless integrated optics on InP. The technology applied allows monolithic integration of variou s active components with a minimum of extra technology steps.