Compact 1 × 3 thin-film lithium niobate optical switch driven by a single radio frequency source

Optical switches can direct the optical signal to the desired channel to achieve data exchange at high speed and low power consumption. To meet switching demands in data centers, we propose and demonstrate a multi-channel thin-film lithium niobate optical switch, driven by a single radio frequency signal source. The proposed switch adopts cascaded Mach–Zehnder interferometers, mode division multiplexers, and coplanar waveguide electrodes to realize 3-channel control, which has a switching time of <39.1 ps, a maximum driving voltage of 5.2 V, and an extinction ratio of >14.8 dB. The device is suitable for high-speed and low-latency optical network switches to reduce electrical drivers, such as high-performance digital-to-analog converters in large-scale optical networks.