1 x N fiber bundle scanning switch

Conventional optomechanical 1×N fiber-optic switches that use individually lensed fibers do not scale gracefully to N>100. We present a 1×N switch where the input and all output fibers are held in a fiber bundle and share a common imaging lens. Output is switched by a reflective scanner that uses prism rotation to achieve 0.1-μm spatial resolution. The fiber locations in a disordered bundle are mapped during a setup procedure and stored in a lookup table for operation. We demonstrate a 1×160 switch in an 11"×3"×4.25" optomechanical package with 20 ms response, 3.5 dB maximum insertion loss, and /spl plusmn/0.02 dB switched connection stability. We discuss how this prototype can be developed into a compact and inexpensive 1×4096 switch.