US 2024/0409393 A1 · MEMS OPTICAL CIRCUIT SWITCH

Abstract

MEMS optical circuit switches (OCS) are provided herein, which include novel structures and methods for (1) Alignment of the optical components (collimator array, micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) mirror array, etc.) in a three-dimensional (3D) MEMS optical circuit switch OCS at the time of assembly or calibration; (2) Detection of the mechanical rotation angle of each MEMS mirror in a 3D MEMS OCS using strain sensors; (3) Monitoring and compensation of the long-term MEMS mirror rotation angle drift and system alignment drift of a 3D MEMS OCS; and (4) Fabrication and assembly of a 2-directional MEMS mirror with piezoelectric actuators.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A micro-electro mechanical systems (MEMS) optical circuit switch (OCS), comprising:

a first optical fiber array and a second optical fiber array each having N ports;
a first MEMS mirror array and a second MEMS mirror array disposed in an optical path between the first optical fiber array and the second optical fiber array, the first and second MEMS mirror arrays each having N mirrors;
and
a group of MEMS piezoelectric actuators operatively coupled to each of the N mirrors in the first and second MEMS mirror arrays, each group of MEMS piezoelectric actuators being controllable to actuate its corresponding mirror to establish a one-to-one mapping between the ports of the first and second optical fiber arrays.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Mems optical circuit switch

Life of this patent

Mems optical circuit switch

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims20