The development of an 8 8 optical switch
Resource
JOURNAL OF THE CHINESE INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERS, 33(1), 37-43
Journal
Journal of the Chinese Institute of Engineers
Journal Volume
33
Journal Issue
1
Pages
37-43
Date Issued
2010
Date
2010
Author(s)
Yang, Yao-Joe
Liao, Bo-Ting
Shih, Sun-Chih
Fan, Kuang-Chao
Abstract
In this paper, a novel 8×8 optical switch, which consists of a MEMS-based silicon micro-mirror array and a solenoid-based bi-stable mini-actuator array, is presented. The silicon micro-mirror array is realized by using a single-step anisotropic silicon etching process. The anisotropic silicon etching technique is capable of fabricating the self-aligned micro-mirror array with high accuracy and high fabrication yield. The mini-actuator array comprises 64 electromagnetic solenoid-based bistable actuators integrated with pushing arms. Each micro-mirror, which is connected to the substrate by a cantilever, can be individually actuated by a mini-actuator. Because of the bi-stability of the mini-actuators, the power consumption of the system can be significantly reduced. When the pushing arm does not contact the cantilever, the micro-mirror which is under zero external force can precisely reflect optical signals. When the pushing arm pushes up the micro-mirror, the optical signal passes through under the mirror. The main advantages of this proposed switch include high precision, high fabrication yield, low actuation voltage, low cost, low power consumption, and easy fiber alignment. The optical performance and the dynamic response of the switch are also investigated. The measured insertion loss is about -2.2 ∼ -3.3 dB, cross-talk is less than -60 dB, and the measured switching time is less than 12 ms. © 2010, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
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Type
journal article
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