Magnetically actuated fiber-optic switch with micromachined positioning stages

A new microfabrication technology for the design and realization of 1 x n and n x n fiber-optic switches, x, xy, and xyz translational stages, optical scanners, fiber-fiber couplers, and fiber-planar-waveguide couplers is presented. This technology is based on bulk anisotropic etching and offers significant improvements over present micro-optical and microphotonic devices. With this new enabling technology we have fabricated 200-mum -2-cm translational stages for use in beam steering and fiber-optic switching applications. We present the fabrication and characterization of a 1 x n micromechanical fiber-optic switch using this new technology. These nonoptimized devices have switching times of <10 ms with <-1-dB loss.