Abstract

This paper proposes micromechanical optical switches which are suitable for integration in an optical waveguide substrate. The switching mechanism is based on the capillary effect induced by a temperature gradient. The switch has a simple structure which consists of a oil filled slit and a pair of microheaters. We designed two types of thermocapillary optical switches. One was a bubble-driven type, the other was an oil-column-driven type. We fabricated both types of 1\;{{\times}}\;3 micro-switches and demonstrated excellent optical switching and self-latching performance.

[IEEE ]

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