1/spl times/2 micro mechanical fiber optical switches using v-grooves on sidewall

Fiber optical switches become more important with the growth of fiber based optical telecommunication networks. 1/spl times/2 micro mechanical fiber moving optical switches without reflective index matching oil, using V-grooves on sidewall have been developed. A compact fiber optical switch without reflective index matching oil was fabricated using precise surfaces and accurate fiber positioning by anisotropic TMAH etched V-grooves. It exhibited good performance, of short switching time (2 m sec), low insertion loss (0.5 dB), and low back reflection.