Non-Volatile Microfluidics Controlled Switch Fabricated in Fused Silica by Femtosecond Laser Inscription

The spreading of fiber to the home technology, driven by the increasing amount of internet traffic over the past decade, requires development of optical power switches (OPSs) for efficient optical network management. Microfluidic Silicon photonics OPSs have recently been proposed as a new class of non-volatile, easily (remotely) reconfigurable switches that could increase the flexibility of a network and help reduce the maintenance costs. As the switching state is controlled by microfluidics, the OPS needs to be powered only at the moment when it needs to be reconfigured.