Integrated phased‐array switches for large‐scale photonic routing on chip

Integrated phased‐array optical switches, having a high port‐count scalability and broad spectral coverage, can potentially be used as building blocks of large‐scale optical routers. In this article, recent works on monolithically integrated InP phased‐array switches and their applications to optical packet switching (OPS) are reviewed. After describing the theory of integrated phased‐array switches, experimental results on a single‐stage 1 × 16 switch, which features wavelength‐independent nanosecond switching characteristics, are presented. A series of OPS experiments, employing high‐bit‐rate optical packets with different modulation formats and a tunable optical buffering experiment are presented as potential applications of these switches. Finally, a large‐scale monolithic switch with as many as 100 ports is realized on a single photonic integrated circuit by cascading the phased‐array switches.