Optical circuit switches (OCSs) are essential building blocks in optical communication networks. Studies have suggested that fast OCSs with microsecond switching time can significantly increase the performance and efficiency of datacenter networks. While recent silicon photonic switches have been reported exhibiting micro/nanosecond response time, exploiting some methods, their efficiency is limited due to the weak perturbation of the refractive index. Moving waveguides with MEMS (micro-electromechanical-system) actuators allow a much stronger optical effect. This opens up new switch architectures that are inherently scalable. We have reported on a new type of MEMS silicon photonic switch built on a low-loss crossbar network.

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-S. Han, T. J. Seok, C. -K. Kim, R. S. Muller, and M. C. Wu, “Multicast silicon photonic MEMS switches with gap-adjustable directional couplers,” Optics Express, 2019, 27 (13), 17561-17570.

-S. Han, T. J. Seok, N. Quack, B. W. Yoo, and M. C. Wu, “Large-scale silicon photonic switches with movable directional couplers,” Optica, 2015, 2 (4), 370-375.