RECENT RESEARCH TRENDS AND ISSUES IN PHOTONIC SWITCHING DEVICES

Photonic switching technology is one of the important research and development issues in the introduction of photonic technology into communication networks. Many problems remain to be solved for practical use of photonic switching devices, although they have been studied for a long time, because they require much more complex functions than do the semiconductor lasers and photodetectors used in trunk transmission systems. This special issue focuses on the photonic switching devices being studied and developed at the NTT Opto-electronics Laboratories. This paper summarizes the fundamentals of the photonic switching devices and their prospects.