Hybrid integrated symmetric Mach-Zehnder all-opticalswitch with ultrafast, high extinction switching

A hybrid integrated symmetric Mach-Zehnder (HI-SMZ) all-optical switch is reported. It has a very high dynamic extinction ratio of > 20 dB at a switching speed of < 4 ps. No delay was found in its rise and fall times with 1 ps control pulses. Thus, the HI-SMZ all-optical switch is capable of high extinction, quasi-square-like modulation up to a speed of ~4 ps, corresponding to a bit rate exceeding 200 Gbit/s.