A novel integrated multistage optical MEMS-mirror switch architecture design with shuffle Benes inter-stage connecting principle

Abstract

Although optical MEMS-based switches as the most promising optical switch technology are commercially available now, the 2D crossbar architecture is not tractable for building large-port-count optical switches due to light beam divergence and the limitation of wafer fabrication. In this paper, we propose a novel integrated multistage optical MEMS-mirror switch architecture design with Shuffle Benes Inter-stage Connecting principle, which is very suitable for building large 2D MEMS switches and achieves better performance in terms of beam divergence loss, mirror size, wafer size, port-to-port repeatability and power consumption. And, the proposed switch employs the simplest 2×2 2D MEMS switch module and has the minimum number of mirrors. Furthermore, its fabrication limit and control requirements are improved.