Micro-optical gate for fiber optic communication

Abstract
An in-line fiber optical gate which features wavelength independence, high extinction ratio, and high reliability has been developed. It consists of a micromechanical actuator and a micro-fiber collimator with two hemispherical end fibers facing each other. The actuator is a torsional electrostatic actuator with a micromirror for light beam chopping and is fabricated by nickel surface micromachining. In an experimental demonstration to confirm the fundamental functionality of the gate, it was found that it could modulate the amplitude of a light beam sharply when the actuator was driven by about 10 V at 1 kHz.

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