Optical switch

Abstract

To make an optical switch smaller, two frames are formed by etching in such manner that when they are stuck together to form a support member, an hexagonal opening appears. The end portions of a pair of fixed optical fibers are arranged in the bottom portions of a pair of opposing V-grooves provided in this hexagonal opening. A pair of movable optical fibers are fixed at the other end of the support member, and these movable optical fibers are arranged in such manner that their end faces are contiguous with the end faces of the pair of fixed optical fibers. A drive mechanism causes the end portions of this pair of vertically arranged movable optical fibers to move to the left or the right, come into contact with the walls of respective V-grooves, slide into the bottoms of the grooves, and thereby have their cores aligned with the cores of the fixed optical fibers. Alternatively, two parallel beams formed from silicon are formed on the inside of a single frame, a pair of mutually opposing projections are formed in approximately the middle portions of these beams, and the end portions of a pair of optical fibers are arranged in and in contact with V-grooves formed parallel to and on the opposing faces of this pair of projections.