Simultaneous and independent switching of 8-wavelength channels with 2-nm spacing using a wavelength-dilated acoustooptic switch

We have used a wavelength-dilated acoustooptic cross-connect, for independent routing of 8-wavelength channels separated by 2 nm. The individual acoustooptic switches making up this cross-connect provide low-crosstalk switching only for channel spacings of at least 4 nm. Total loss through the dilated 2/spl times/2 crossconnect is 9 dB, and crosstalk ranges from -25 to -35 dB. Switch architectures of this kind will be needed in multiwavelength networks where channel spacings are too close to be accommodated by a single multiwavelength switch.