An SOI optical microswitch integrated with silicon waveguides andtouch-down micromirror actuators

摘要

We present an SOI optical microswitch for applications to anintegrated optical transceiver module, connected with optical I/O ports,source (LD) and receiver (PD). The optical microswitch consists of thewaveguides and the micromirror actuators, all fabricated by the siliconlayer on an SOI wafer. In the normally off-state, the micromirrorsbypass the input signal to the output port. In the on-state, however,the actuated micromirrors provide optical interconnections between I/Oports and PD/LD, respectively. The present waveguide switch usesactuated micromirrors, thus providing more reliable optical path changethan the conventional electro-optic or thermo-optic waveguide switches.In addition, we simplify the structure and the process of themicroswitch by using the silicon waveguides and the siliconmirror-actuators, all fabricated by the ICP etching of an identical SOIwafer