Geometrical analysis and design of integrated 3-D lightwave circuits

The principles of the photonic integration of proposed 2-D switching networks are presented which is mainly based on the utilization of planar integration techniques and their development. This 'sandwich' technique composes layers of planar integration with the major goal of minimizing (1) the number of interconnections between adjacent layers with slopes (2) the number of crossing waveguides (WGs) within single layers and between adjacent layers and of optimizing (3) the number of layers. This is a multi-level optimization problem whose first step can be solved by utilizing the symmetry of the 3-D architectures. The presented work explains concepts and prepares their geometry for the ongoing physical analysis. The presented architectures are restricted to passive switches, capable to provide e.g. all-optical logic circuits. Hints for an extension towards active switches are also briefly presented.