This paper describes the optical, mechanical, and magnetic design of compact latching type single-mode fiber switches and demonstrates their characteristics including several reliability tests.
To reduce the switch size and power, we designed a simple electro-magnetic driving mechanism composed of a solenoid coil and magnets that can move an ultra-light micro-magnetic-alloy pipe fixed on a movable fiber. Insertion loss and reflected light were reduced by injecting refractive- index-matching oil into the switches. We investigated precise optical coupling condition between a movable fiber and stationary fiber in terms of magnetic attraction forces.
The fabricated 1×2 switches exhibited a low insertion loss of 0.31dB, a high return loss of 51dB, a relatively fast switching time of <2ms, and low driving power of 9mW. When subjected to endurance (108 switchings), heat cycle, shock and vibration, and long-term (6.5years) intermittent operating tests, they revealed no significant optical or mechanical degradation.
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