Description
Fast optical circuit switches with large port count will allow flexible bandwidth allocation in datacenter networks by augmenting electrical packet switching. Reported herein is the development of a microsecond-speed optical circuit switch with 50×50 port counts implemented on silicon photonics platform using MEMS-actuated directional couplers. The switch contains a number of innovative enhancements: fast switching speed (2.5 µs response time) and high on-off extinction ratio (25 dB), which are complimented by a small footprint (9×9 mm2) and simple fabrication process (only three lithography steps). This prototype switch port-count appears capable of being scaled up to 100×100 and beyond.