Magnetohydrodynamics based microfluidic optical switch

摘要

As one of the core devices in all-optical networks, optical switches can convert optical signal physically and logically.Here a 2×2 microfluidic optical switch is proposed. It switches the optical path by ionic liquid and air in a microchannel,and uses the magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) microfluidic drive technology. The proposed optical switch possesses themerits of simple structure, easy operation and low actuation voltage. There are no movable mechanical parts in thisoptical switch, so its volume is small. The structure, working principle and related theory of the proposed optical switchare described in this paper. The conducted research can promote the application of microfluidics in the opticalcommunication.