Improvements Evaluation of High-Speed Electro-Optical Integrated Thin-Film Microwave Coupler SOA-based Space Switch

Abstract The speed and transient improvements due to a thin- film microwave coupler on a high-speed SOA-based space switch are analyzed. The switch performance is compared with another one using the same SOA device but in its commercial butterfly encapsulated form factor. Through an extensive experimental characterization and an automated algorithm analysis, the switching actions were evaluated in several SOA operational conditions (bias current, electrical pulse step amplitude, preimpulse amplitude, and switching technique) employing metrics related to the switching times and transient behavior intensity. The results showed that the thin-film coupler SOA switch mounting led to switching time improvements and quicker optical output pulse stabilization. In conjunction with the appropriated switching technique, the device could achieve switching speeds around 200 ps aiming its operation in high-speed optical networks.摘要：本文分析了基于半导体光放大器（SOA）的高速空间光开关搭载薄膜微波耦合器所带来的速度与瞬态性能提升。将该开关与另一款采用同款SOA器件但采用商用蝶形封装外形的开关进行性能对比。通过大量实验表征与自动化算法分析，在多种SOA工作工况（偏置电流、电脉冲阶跃幅度、预脉冲幅度及开关技术）下，采用与开关时间、瞬态特性强度相关的评测指标对开关动作展开评估。结果表明，搭载薄膜耦合器的SOA开关可缩短开关时间并实现光输出脉冲的更快稳定。配合适配的开关技术，该器件可实现约200皮秒的开关速度，以满足高速光网络的应用需求。