Development of a 2×2 optical switch using bi-stable solenoid-based actuators

This paper presents the development of a 2×2 optical switch which consists of a MEMS-based silicon micro-mirror structure and two bi-stable solenoid-based actuators. The silicon micro-mirror structure is realized by using a proposed simple single-step anisotropic silicon etching process. Bi-stable solenoid-based actuators are designed and developed. The proposed device, which adapts the split-cross bar (SCB) design as the optical-path configuration, has many advantages such as low power consumption, easy fiber alignment, simple manufacturing process, and simple actuation scheme. The measured insertion loss of the device is about −0.9 ∼ −1.1 dB. The long-term reliability test shows that the deviations of the insertion losses are less than 0.03 dB after 10,000 switching cycles. Also, the measured cross-talk is about −60 dB, and the measured switching time is less than 10 ms.