Use of Optical Switch
Optical switch is a kind of one or more optional optics transmission port optical device, It is used in optical transmission line integrated optics
optical signals to switch from the physical or logical operation, The optical switch is an optical path conversion device.
The purpose of the optical switch is in the optical fiber transmission system, it is used for multiple monitors, LAN, multiple light sources, detectors,
and protection of Ethernet conversion. In the optical fiber test system, it is used for fiber optic equipment and network tests, optical fiber sensing
multi-point monitoring system.
According to the manufacturing process to classify optical switch, it could be divided into mechanical, MOEMS MEMS switches and other systematic
way mode switch. The first two optical switch is the most mature, most market applications products, the last category can be subdivided into the liquid
crystal optical switch, electro-optical switch, thermo-optic optical switch, acousto-optic light switch.
There are a variety of optical switch performance parameters, such as fast switching speeds, high isolation, low insertion loss, polarization insensitive
and reliability of the different areas of its requirements also vary. Its species are traditional optical mechanical switch which usually use in protect and
switching system, also has new type optical switch of the rapid development in recent years, such as thermo-optical switches, liquid crystal switches,
electro-optical switches, sound and light switches, MOEMS optical switch, the bubble switch. In the area of ultra-high-speed optical communications,
also has Maeh - Zehnder interferometer type optical switch, non-linear loop mirror optical switch light control switch, etc. The Features of optical switch
are wide range of wavelength switching speed with low insertion loss, high return loss with non-gel optical path.
Stable and reliable application range is optical transmission system of multi-channel monitoring LAN multi-source / detector automatically for exchange.
Characteristic parameters of optical switch
1. Insertion loss
2. Return loss - The ratio between input port optical power are returned and the input optical power.
3. Isolation - The ratio of two isolated output port's optical power .
4. Crosstalk - the optical power ratio between Crosstalk input and non-conducting port.
5. Extinction Ratio - The insertion loss numerical difference between two ports in the conducting and non-conducting state. ER = IL-IL0
6. Switching time - The switch from one initial state to work or break that time required, it should be start the moment that energy is applied or removed
on the switch.