A 1 × 2 optical fiber switch using a dual-thickness SOI process

Abstract

This work presents a micro-electro-mechanical system 1 × 2 optical fiber switch fabricated by a dual-thickness SOI process. The switch employs a fiber-switching mechanism which consists of comb-drive actuators and folded-beam suspensions. The design and modeling of the fiber-switching mechanism, which can effectively avoid electrostatic pull-in, is also presented. The device is realized by using a dual-thickness SOI process which can be used to create suspended microstructures with two different structure thicknesses. The measured average insertion losses for the two output channels are 0.92 dB and 0.89 dB, which satisfy the BELLCORE requirements. Also, the transient behaviors are measured. The typical switching time is about 3.5 ms.

Fiber, holographic, quantum optical and other types of optical switches

“…These switches generally use mechanical positioning systems, where movement of optical fibers or other components relative to each other permits switching of light from input fibers to output fibers of the system l- 18 . Although the movement can be realized manually, an actuation mechanism is more commonly employed, such as electrostatic actuation 3,16 , electromagnetic actuation 6 , thermal actuation 7,10 , comb-drive actuation 5,17 and piezoelectric actuation 18 . Fiber switches can be classified into two main types 19 , namely, the fiber moving type and the optical-component moving type where the moving component can be prism, lens, mirror, collimator or other components.…”

“…Among the reported types of designs, the one with comb-drive actuation shows its advantages in terms of endurance for long-term applications, switching time, requirement in structure length/thickness and convenience in fabrication process. Therefore, here we introduce a 1 × 2 fiber switch with comb-drive actuation reported in the work of Yang et al 17 for illustration. Figure 10.4 schematically depicts the structure of the 1 × 2 fiber switch.…”

Fabrication of Parylene-Based High-Aspect-Ratio Suspended Structure Using a Silicon-on-Insulator Wafer

“…3,4) Compared with the surface-micromachining process, the major advantage of HARSs is that suspended HARSs are relatively stiff in the out-of-plane direction, but compliant in the in-plane direction. The suspended HARSs also provide a large proof mass and structure, which provides a large aspect ratio of devices, and may increase the sensitivity and performance of sensors and microsystems.…”

“…Suspended high-aspect-ratio structures (HARSs) are widely used in micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMSs), particularly in devices with suspended movable structures that are designed for in-plane motions, such as resonators, 1) accelerometers, 2) and optical switches. 3,4) Compared with the surface-micromachining process, the major advantage of HARSs is that suspended HARSs are relatively stiff in the out-of-plane direction, but compliant in the in-plane direction. The suspended HARSs also provide a large proof mass and structure, which provides a large aspect ratio of devices, and may increase the sensitivity and performance of sensors and microsystems.…”

Dualfunctional MEMS optical device with compound electrostatic actuators for compact and flexible photonic networks

“…The significant and rapid growth of optical fiber communication networks has created a large demand for many optical devices, including optical switches (OS) [1][2][3] and variable optical attenuators (VOA) [4]. Conventional mechanical optical devices suffer from large size and large element mass; guided-wave optical devices show the disadvantages of high loss and long device length.…”