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

Abstract

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