2×2 MEMS Optical Switches

In this paper, the principle of the electrostatically driven MEMS optical switches is systematically analyzed. Especially, the 2DMEMS optical switches is detailedly studyed. According to the requirements of electro-mechanical and optical coupling characters, the technologies which include fabrication processing, mechanical structure design and optical coupling are developed. A novel bulk-silicon micromachining process has been achieved. Basing on the process, several 1×2 and 2×2 electrostatically driven MEMS optical switches have been designed, which can get a large displacement with low actuation voltage. The design optimization is done by means of FEM simulations using ANSYS software. A novel 1 × 2 electrostatically comb-driven MEMS optical switch and a 2 × 2 electrostatically comb-driven MEMS optical switch have been finished, then the measurement of electro-mechanical and optical coupling properties has been done.With low actuation voltage(22V), the 2×2 electrostatically driven MEMS optical switch has a large scale motion(>50μm) and a higher speed (> 1.5ms).