A novel 2 × 2 MEMS optical switch using the split cross-bar design

Abstract

In this paper, a novel 2 × 2 MEMS optical switch is presented. The switch, which employs the proposed split cross-bar (SCB) design, intrinsically possesses advantages over typical 2 × 2 MEMS switches of traditional designs, such as the cross-bar design and the mirror-array design. In comparison to the cross-bar switches, the SCB switch does not have the constraint on the mirror thickness which affects fiber alignment significantly. In comparison to the mirror-array switches, the SCB switch requires fewer movable mirrors and thus gives better fabrication yield. The SCB device can be easily fabricated by employing inductively-coupled-plasma etching (ICP) on a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer with one photo-mask. Electro-thermal V-beam actuators integrated with the bi-stable mechanisms are employed to move and latch the movable mirrors of the proposed device. The displacement of the movable mirrors is at least 60 µm under a driving voltage of 40 V. The optical performance and the dynamic response of the SCB switch are also investigated. The measured average insertion loss is less than −1.4 dB with a deviation of 0.08 dB. Also, the measured switching time is about 10 ms.