BPN820: Multicast Silicon Photonic MEMS Switches

Silicon photonic switches have been developed for fast and low-cost optical switching. However most of demonstration is still limited in unicast operation. In this project, we develop a silicon photonic switch that is capable of multicast switching. We have implemented silicon photonic switches with movable waveguide couplers that can control power splitting ratio precisely. The switch has 4x20 ports, fast switching time (<9.6 us), low optical insertion loss (<4.0 dB), and small footprint (1.2 mm x 4.5 mm). We have demonstrated 1- to-2 and 1-to-4 multicast operation with the switch.

Project end date: 08/18/16