A new type of optical switching device is developed. For a semiconductor laser amplifier with a shallow-etched bending ridge waveguide, the laser beam could propagate along the bending direction or the straight direction. Switching between the two directions is characterized. With the device fabricated on the substrate with two quantum wells of different widths, switching characteristics are found to significantly depend on the spectral separation of the two lasing modes. ©1997 American Institute of Physics.