Configurable Photonic Element: Analysis and Design towards Reconfigurable Photonic ICs

In this paper, a theoretical investigation of configurable photonic element (CPE) based on the ideal optical Y-switch is presented. The proposed configurable photonic element acts as an optical switch and serves as a base element for various logical functions as well as for reconfigurable photonic integrated circuits (ICs). The configurable photonic element follows different coupling ratios such as 0%, 50% and 100% to realize logical, linear and nonlinear optical functions. The design and simulation of the configurable photonic element towards reconfigurable photonic IC are discussed and the results show that the feasibility of CPE as a base element for reconfigurable photonic ICs and configurable photonic components.