Optical switching device

Abstract

An optical switching device, comprising: a substrate ; a laye of an active material disposed on the substrate, the active material being either a phase change material or a material which, by changing its stoichiometry, its optical properties change, wherein the active material is configured to change upon application of an external stimulus between a crystalline phase having a first refractive index and an amorphous phase having a second refractive index; and a layer of a transparent material disposed on the layer of active material, wherein the layer of a transparent material is a prism defining an angle a selected such that, when a linearly polarized plane wave reaches an entrance face of the prism and radiation is refracted and travels within the prism until it reaches the surface of the layer of active material, the Brewster condition is met for one of the two phases, of the active material, so that when the active material is in the phase for which the Brewster condition is met, radiation is not reflected at the interface between the prism and the layer of active material, while when the active material is in the other phase, radiation is reflected at said interface and leaves the optical switching device when it reaches an output face of the prism, thus controlling the switching mode of the optical switching device through the presence or absence of reflected light at said interface.