Mechanical Small Optical Switch: Comprehensive Analysis of its Characteristics

Mechanical small optical switch is a device that switches optical paths by physically moving optical components (such as mirrors, prisms, or optical fibers). Its core characteristic is the use of mechanical motion to change the optical path, offering advantages such as low insertion loss, high isolation, and high stability, but with a relatively slow switching speed (typically in the millisecond to tens of milliseconds range).

I. Technical Parameters:

II. Features:

● Low insertion loss, wide wavelength range
● Low channel crosstalk, high stability, high reliability
● Simple control, small size, easy to embed in circuit boards
● Selectable locking and non-locking control types

Application Areas:

1. Fiber Optic Communication Networks

● Network testing and monitoring: Used in laboratory or field testing to switch test instruments (such as OTDRs, spectrometers, and optical power meters) to different fiber optic links for performance monitoring and fault location.
● Optical line protection: When the primary fiber optic link fails, it quickly switches the service to the backup link to ensure uninterrupted communication.
● Network configuration and routing: Used in small and medium-sized optical network nodes to dynamically configure the physical path of optical signals.

2. Test and Measurement Systems

● Multi-port automated testing: In the production testing and R&D of optical devices (such as optical modules, fiber amplifiers, and filters), it enables automatic switching of a test platform to multiple devices under test or different test items, significantly improving testing efficiency.
● Laboratory research platform: Used in university and research institute laboratories to flexibly build and reconfigure various optical path experimental systems.

3. Sensing Systems

● Multiplexed sensing networks: In fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensing networks, distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) systems, etc., it is used to sequentially switch to different sensing fibers or sensing channels to achieve multi-point monitoring of a large structure (such as bridges, oil and gas pipelines, and power cables).
● Redundant backup sensing: At critical safety monitoring points, backup sensors are configured, and the optical switch is used to switch when the primary sensor fails.

4. Defense and Aerospace

● Redundant system switching: Provides highly reliable backup switching for critical optical links in airborne, shipborne, or vehicle-mounted optical communication, radar, and electronic warfare systems. ● Multi-sensor switching: Switching between different types of optical sensors (such as infrared and LiDAR), sharing the backend processing unit.

5. Medical Equipment

● Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT): Used to guide light sources and signals in multi-channel OCT or systems requiring switching between different scanning probes.
● Endoscope and Microscope Systems: Switching between multiple light sources (such as lasers of different wavelengths) or multiple detection channels.

6. Data Centers and High-Performance Computing

● Optical Interconnect Reconfiguration in Specific Scenarios: While large-scale data center cores tend to use faster MEMS or silicon photonic switches, mechanical miniature optical switches still find applications in interconnections or backup links between devices where speed requirements are not critical, but extremely low loss and high reliability are needed.

7. Broadcasting and Video Transmission

● Multi-channel Video Signal Distribution: Used in television stations, studios, and other locations to switch optical video signals from different sources to different destinations.

Xionghua Photoelectric provides: miniature mechanical optical switches, mechanical optical switch modules, MEMS optical switches, magneto-optical switches, and optical bypass self-healing optical switches. For customized solutions, please feel free to contact our sales representatives.