Design of a 1 × 2 novel optical switch based on polarization converters and splitters

In this paper, a 1 × 2 optical switch based on two TE/TM polarization converters, one 1 × 2-polarization beam splitter and a hybrid 2 × 2-polarization beam splitter/combiner is designed and discussed. The novelty of this work resides in the design of a 2 × 2-hybrid polarization beam combiner/splitter, operating as a 2 × 2 polarization optical switch through the combining and the splitting of polarized signals issued from two TE/TM polarization controllers. The novel hybrid splitter/combiner can route an optical signal either to a bar or a cross port with an extinction ratio higher than 90 dB, thanks to the feature of polarization splitting used in this device to suppress undesired polarization states and minimize the polarization-dependent loss. We have used polarization beam converters to switch between two orthogonal modes in order to facilitate the routing of these signals through the 2 × 2-hybrid polarization splitter/combiner. We changed the polarization states of signals, in our simulation via OptiSystem, through polarization controllers, by modifying only their phase shifts between 0 rad and π rad. The proposed 1 × 2 optical switch presents an average insertion loss of 3.5 dB.