Design, manufacture and reliability of 2D MEMS optical switches

Optical MEMS for Lightwave Communication

“…The hermetic switch package is shown in Fig. 6(b) [36]. Maximum insertion losses of 1.7 and 3.1 dB have been obtained for 8 × 8 and 16 × 16 switches, respectively, and the crosstalk is less than −50 dB.…”

“…Maximum insertion losses of 1.7 and 3.1 dB have been obtained for 8 × 8 and 16 × 16 switches, respectively, and the crosstalk is less than −50 dB. The switching time is less than 7 ms. Packaging is critical to attain long-term reliability and satisfy Telcordia qualification for telecommunication applications [36].…”

The packaging technology of optical switch arrays

“…The basic part is the moving mirrors ( Figure 3 [3] ). Light signals from any input port can be switched to any output port passed through the device when no mirror is activated.…”

“…Because it can deliver a combination of high optical performance, ultra compact size, and ultra-low power consumption with the potential of easy fabrication and low cost. There are two general switching architectures for making an OXC, namely, two-dimensional (2-D) planner structure using waveguide switches or flip-up MOEMS mirrors, and the three-dimensional (3-D) structure using analog gimbal mirrors (shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2) [ 3,7 ] .…”

“…Please note that there are N 2 mirrors for an N×N switch. By moving mirrors at appropriate place and reflect beams, it is possible to couple any input single to any output [3,7] . 3D MOEMS ( Figure 2) consists of input and output collimator and two packaged mirror arrays.…”