NONLINEAR SWITCHING IN PHOTOSENSITIVE ROCKING FILTERS

We demonstrate all-optical switching in rocking filters which are exte rnally written in photosensitive fiber using ultra-violet irradiation. This fabrication technique allows considerable flexibility in the des ign of the rocking filter and lets one tailor the switching characteri stics. Using 2 ps pulses from a Ti:sapphire laser and a 0.889 m rockin g filter, we measure a switching power of 300 W, corresponding to a sw itching energy of about 600 pJ. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rig hts reserved.