Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation

Yasuhide Nishida

Makoto Sato

Fusao Shimokawa

Hiroyoshi Togo

Joji Yamaguchi

Tetsufumi Shoji

Mitsuhiro Makihara

Tsuneo Kanai

Kazumasa Kaneko

Naoyuki Tamaru

An optical switch includes a substrate having therein optical waveguides made of silicon and a silicon layer deposited on its top surface. A space is formed in the crossing portion of the optical waveguides which is covered with a lid, preferably made of low alkali borosilicate glass, and which is bonded to the silicon layer by anodic bonding. Preferably, a groove is formed in a surface of the optical waveguide substrate or a bonding surface of the lid. The groove, after the lid has been bonded, makes a passage which communicates between the space and an outside. The passage is a pouring slit for pouring an index-matching liquid and is connected to the space which acts as a driving slit in which the index-matching liquid moves. In one embodiment, the width of the pouring slit is smaller than that of the driving slit. The optical switch can be manufactured by providing an optical waveguide substrate and a lid substrate, one of which is formed with a groove in its surface on which the two substrates are bonded. The optical waveguide substrate and the lid substrate are bonded together by anodic bonding to make a passage which communicates between the space formed in a crossing portion of the optical waveguides and an outside. The regulation of the volume of the index-matching liquid is time-, temperature-, or pressure-based regulation.

Optical switch and method for assembling the same

An optical fiber cross connection apparatus is provided for connecting and disconnecting input optical fibers to desired output optical fibers, each of the input optical fibers being equipped with a plug on a tip thereof. The optical fiber cross connection apparatus comprises an arrangement board installed approximately vertically, which has a plurality of alignment holes for releasably holding the plugs and for passing the input optical fibers therethrough, a connection board installed approximately vertically, on which a plurality of connection adapters are positioned to which the output optical fibers are connected and to which the plugs of the input optical fibers are connectable, a handling mechanism for drawing the input optical fibers from the arrangement board so that the input optical fibers are drawn through the alignment holes and for connecting the plugs thereof to desired connection adapters, a roll-up mechanism for paying out the input optical fibers when the fibers are drawn through the alignment holes by the handling mechanism, and traveling mechanisms for moving the handling mechanism and the roll-up mechanism to a desired position with respect to the connection board and the arrangement board.

Optical fiber cross connection apparatus and method

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Kodaira, Japan

Yasuhide Nishida