JP2003050363A - Optical-switching device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an optical-switch which is used as an optical switch for fiber optic communication, has high performance and is low-cost and miniaturized. SOLUTION: An optical waveguide 12 is installed on a substrate 13, guides a light beam between a connecting means and the light guiding part 11a of an optical switch part 11 installed on the substrate 13, and has a function to convert a beam diameter between a beam diameter at the side of the light guiding part 11a of the optical switch part 11 and a beam diameter at the side of the connecting means. The connecting means connects the optical switching device to an external optical fiber. The cross section of an end 12a at the side of connecting the external optical fiber of the optical waveguide 12 is enlarged in correspondence with the core diameter of the external optical fiber. The cross section of the optical waveguide 12 in an end 12b at the side connected to the optical switch part 11 is set to be smaller than the end 12a at the side of connecting the external optical fiber. The optical switch part 11, the optical waveguide 12 and the connecting means provided on the substrate 13 are almost disposed and constituted on the almost same plane.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention generally relates to an optical switch for optical communication, and more particularly to an optical switching device suitable for an optical switch for a large diameter optical fiber such as a plastic optical fiber.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recent IT (information technology)
Optical information transmission, which enables high-speed and large-capacity information transmission, is in the spotlight in connection with the progress of information technology. Along with this, there has been a need for peripheral devices such as efficient optical switches that assist data transmission performed through such optical fibers. An optical switch is a device that works by selectively coupling an optical fiber to one of a plurality of other optical fibers so that the two coupled optical fibers can communicate with each other. Thus, in optical information transmission,
An optical switch that switches the transmission line without changing "light-electricity-light" without changing "light-light" is regarded as important.
Optical fiber coupling, which is under development, is performed by optical switches that can be realized in various ways. One of those methods involves utilizing a mirror placed in front of the input optical fiber to reflect the optical signal from the input optical fiber to at least one of the two output optical fibers.
The input optical fiber and the output optical fiber may be unidirectional optical fibers or bidirectional optical fibers.

In the simplest form of the mirror-based method, the input optical fiber is aligned to form an optical path with respect to one of the two output optical fibers. In this case, when the mirror is not located in the optical path between the two aligned optical fibers, the two aligned optical fibers are in communication with each other. When the mirror is inserted and arranged between the aligned optical fibers, the mirror deflects (for example, reflects) an optical signal and outputs from the input optical fiber to the other output light of the two output optical fibers. It is intended to form an optical path to the fiber. The operation of inserting and removing the mirror between the two optical fibers thus aligned is realized by using a device for mechanically moving the mirror to a desired position. Further, the main body of conventional optical transmission is a silica-based optical fiber, and a single mode (SM) fiber having a core diameter of 10 μm and a multimode (MM) fiber having a core diameter of 50 μm or 62.5 μm are frequently used. It was On the other hand, in recent years,
Plastic optical fiber (hereinafter referred to as "POF")
The development of the optical fiber has been remarkable, and recently it has achieved a transmission speed comparable to that of silica-based optical fibers. This POF is generally an optical fiber having a large core diameter because of its characteristic of being resistant to bending. In this way, since POF can have a large core diameter, optical connection is easy, and in the future,
It is expected to be widely used mainly for homes and offices. That is, the POF core diameter is 100 μm.
.About.several hundred .mu.m, and the diameter of the entire fiber exceeds 1 mm in some cases.

[0004]

However, the fact that the core diameter is large means that when considering the above-mentioned optical switch and the like, it is necessary to increase the size of each component to match the core diameter. come. Some examples of conventional optical switches will be specifically described. Figure 4
Are disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-13091 (Patent No. 2859515).
FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the optical switch disclosed in Japanese Patent No. In FIG. 4, the fiber array member 103, which is an optical fiber unit, is a base 112 of the optical switch 111.
It is located above. This fiber array member 103 is
The substrate 106 having the first fiber fixing groove 108 and the second fiber fixing groove 109 on the upper surface, and the multi-core optical fiber tape 1
01 (indicated by a chain double-dashed line), which is a plurality of master-side optical fibers of the multi-core optical fiber tape 101.
The optical fiber is fixed in the first fiber fixing groove 108. The second optical fiber 104 is supported by a movable head 105 that is moved by a conveying unit (described later), can move in the arrangement direction of the first optical fibers (the X direction in the drawing), and can also move in the longitudinal direction of the first optical fibers. (Z direction in the drawing) and a direction (Y direction in the drawing) orthogonal to the fiber array direction (X direction)
Direction).

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of the fiber array member 103 shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, the optical fiber 104 is inscribed in the side wall of the bottom of the V groove, and is held by the adhesive in this state. Further, a silicon cover plate 117 is joined to the upper surface of the substrate 113 and fixed to the fiber fixing groove 109.
4 is protected. In this example, the groove pitch is 0.2
The intervals are 5 mm, but this is limited by the diameter of the optical fiber, so it is difficult to narrow it. For example, a POF having an outer diameter of 0.5 mm requires a groove pitch of 0.9 mm, and a POF having an outer diameter of 1 mm requires a groove pitch of 1.8 mm. In the case of POF like this,
Since the fiber diameter is large, the fiber array member also becomes large, and the amount of movement of the fiber necessary for switching the optical path also becomes large, which increases the size of the entire apparatus.

Further, for example, in a micromachine type optical switch, it is necessary to make the mirror large and the displacement of the mirror large. That is, FIG. 6 is a plan view showing the configuration of the optical switch disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-258704, and FIG.
It is sectional drawing which follows the b'line. The micro mirror 215 mounted on the movable electrode plate 212 shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 is configured to move up and down. 8 is a plan view showing the configuration of the optical switch disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-352676, and FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along line bb 'in FIG. The operation will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 9, when the micro mirror 303 is raised, the light emitted from the optical fiber 304 is reflected by the micro mirror 303 and the optical path is deflected. When the micro mirror 303 is lowered, the incident light from the optical fiber 304 does not enter the micro mirror 303 but goes straight and enters the incident side fiber 305. By such an operation, a switch operation for switching the optical path is performed.

In this case, the height of the micro mirror 303 is about 20 μm at most. Therefore, in order to allow the light emitted from the optical fiber 304 to enter the micro mirror 303, the light beam must be narrowed down to ten and several μm. Therefore, in such a micromirror type optical switch, when a large-diameter fiber such as POF is used, the beam diameter of the incident light from the fiber is large.
The micromirrors for reflecting must also be large. However, when the size of the micromirror is increased, the weight of the micromirror is increased and a large amount of energy is required for driving, and the size of the micromirror is increased, so that the moving distance must be increased.
As described above, in connection with the use of the POF and the like, increasing the fiber diameter causes a problem that the movable range of the movable device must be increased, and the entire device must be increased. In addition, this causes problems such as an increase in manufacturing cost and a complicated manufacturing process, resulting in lower reliability.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides an optical switching device which can be used as an optical switch for optical fiber communication and which can realize high performance and low cost. It is an object.
It is an object of claim 1 of the present invention to use an optical switch main body corresponding to a beam diameter smaller than a beam diameter determined by a core diameter of an external optical fiber to be connected, between the optical fiber and the optical switch main body. By suppressing the loss of light to a small level, it is possible to use a switch for a fiber with a small core diameter as the main body of the optical switch, and the existing technical assets for optical fiber can be used for large-diameter optical fiber. An object of the present invention is to provide an optical switching device which can realize improvement and cost reduction. It is an object of claim 2 of the present invention to configure a waveguide type optical switch using a waveguide optical switch corresponding to a beam diameter smaller than a beam diameter determined by a core diameter of an external optical fiber to be connected. An object of the present invention is to provide an optical switching device that enables the cost reduction of the optical switch for large-diameter optical fibers.

An object of claim 3 of the present invention is to use an optical switch main body corresponding to a beam diameter smaller than a beam diameter determined by a core diameter of an external optical fiber to be connected, and to use the external optical fiber and the optical switch. For a large-diameter optical fiber, the loss of light between the main body and the optical switch can be suppressed to a small degree, and the positional relationship between the connection portion to the external optical fiber and the optical switch main body can be increased. An object of the present invention is to provide an optical switching device that enables cost reduction and size reduction of an optical switch. An object of claim 4 of the present invention is to use an optical switch main body corresponding to a beam diameter smaller than a beam diameter determined by a core diameter of an external optical fiber to be connected, and to directly attach another member to the optical switch main body. It is an object of the present invention to provide an optical switching device that can be configured without being physically connected and can achieve cost reduction and high reliability of an optical switch for large-diameter optical fibers. In particular, the object of claim 5 of the present invention is to enable switching of a plastic optical fiber having a large core diameter by using a component or device for a small optical switch such as a conventional quartz optical fiber, thereby enabling optical information communication. An object of the present invention is to provide an optical switching device that can achieve cost reduction of the system.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, an optical switching device according to the present invention is an optical switching device having one or more optical path changing elements. The device includes at least a switch main body including at least one optical path changing element and a light guide having a predetermined beam diameter, and a switch outside the optical switching device and having a beam diameter larger than that of the light guide of the switch main body. Connection means for connecting the optical switching device to the external optical fiber, the connection means having a beam diameter larger than the beam diameter of the light guide portion corresponding to the external optical fiber having a large beam diameter. While guiding the light beam between the light guide section of the switch body,
And a light guide unit having a beam diameter conversion function for converting the beam diameter in correspondence with the beam diameter on the light guide unit side of the switch body and the beam diameter on the connection unit side. There is.

Further, in the optical switching device according to the present invention as set forth in claim 2, the light guide means comprises an optical waveguide device formed on a substrate, and the connection means,
It is characterized in that the light guide means and the switch body are arranged and arranged on substantially the same plane. An optical switching device according to a third aspect of the present invention is characterized in that the light guide means includes optical fibers having different core diameters at both ends and having a beam diameter conversion function. There is. An optical switching device according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is characterized in that the light guide means includes a beam diameter conversion optical system that uses at least one lens. The optical switching device according to a fifth aspect of the present invention is characterized in that a plastic optical fiber is used as the external optical fiber.

[0012]

That is, the optical switching device according to claim 1 of the present invention is an optical switching device provided with a switch main body composed of one or more optical path conversion elements, wherein the optical switching device is at least the optical switching device. Connecting means for connecting an external optical fiber and an optical switching device outside the device, connecting the connecting means of this optical switching device and a predetermined light guide part of the switch main body part in the optical switching device, and connecting them. A light guide means for guiding a light beam between the light guide means, the beam diameter of the light guide means on the connection means side is larger than the beam diameter on the switch body side, and the light guide means has a beam diameter conversion function. Is equipped with. With such a configuration, it can be used as an optical switch for optical fiber communication, and high performance and low cost can be realized. In particular, the beam diameter is determined by the core diameter of the external optical fiber to be connected. By using the optical switch body corresponding to a small beam diameter to suppress the loss of light between the optical fiber and the optical switch body, it is possible to use a switch for a fiber with a small core diameter as the optical switch body. The existing technical assets for optical fiber can be used for large-diameter optical fiber, and improvement in reliability and reduction in cost can be realized.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the optical switching device, the light guide means is composed of an optical waveguide device formed on a substrate, and the connecting means, the light guide means and the switch body are provided. The parts are arranged substantially on the same plane. With such a configuration, in particular, a waveguide type optical switching device can be configured by using a waveguide optical switch corresponding to a beam diameter smaller than the beam diameter determined by the core diameter of the connected external optical fiber. It is possible to reduce the cost of the optical switch for optical fibers. In the optical switching device according to the third aspect of the present invention, the light guiding means is composed of an optical fiber, and the optical fibers have different core diameters at both ends and have a beam diameter converting function. With such a configuration, in particular, an optical switch main body corresponding to a beam diameter smaller than the beam diameter determined by the core diameter of the connected external optical fiber is used, and the light between the external optical fiber and the optical switch main body is used. Loss can be suppressed to a small degree, and the degree of freedom of the positional relationship between the connection portion to the external optical fiber and the optical switch body can be increased, and the cost of the optical switch for large-diameter optical fibers can be reduced. Can be made compact and compact.

In the optical switching device according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the light guiding means includes a beam diameter conversion optical system using at least one lens. With such a configuration, in particular, an optical switch main body corresponding to a beam diameter smaller than the beam diameter determined by the core diameter of the external optical fiber to be connected is used, and another member is directly connected to the optical switch main body. The optical switch for large-diameter optical fibers can be made low in cost and highly reliable. An optical switching device according to a fifth aspect of the present invention is configured by using a plastic optical fiber as the external optical fiber.
With such a configuration, it becomes possible to switch a plastic optical fiber having a large core diameter, particularly by using a component or device for a small optical switch such as a conventional quartz optical fiber, and to reduce the cost of an optical information communication system. Can be achieved.

[0015]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The optical switching device of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings based on the embodiments of the present invention. FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a main part of an optical switching device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, (a) is a perspective view showing a configuration of a main part of an optical switching device, (b) is a sectional view of an optical waveguide, which is a light guiding means, on the optical switch main body connection side, and ( FIG. 3C is a cross-sectional view of the optical waveguide on the external optical fiber connection side. The optical switching device shown in FIG. 1 includes an optical switch unit 11, an optical waveguide 12, and a substrate 13. The optical switch section 11 that constitutes the switch main body section is installed on the substrate 13 and has one or more optical path changing elements (not shown in the drawing), and the light guide section 1 has a predetermined beam diameter.
1a. Optical waveguide 12 that constitutes the light guide means
Is installed on the substrate 13, guides the light beam between the connecting means (not shown) and the light guide section 11a of the optical switch section 11, and has a beam diameter on the light guide section 11a side of the optical switch section 11. And a beam diameter conversion function for converting the beam diameter in correspondence with the beam diameter on the side of the connecting means.

The connecting means is located outside the optical switching device and has an external optical fiber (not shown) such as a POF large diameter optical fiber having a beam diameter larger than the beam diameter of the light guide portion 11a of the optical switch portion 11. ), The beam diameter is larger than the beam diameter of the light guide portion 11a, and the optical switching device is connected to the external optical fiber. End 12a of the optical waveguide 12 on the external optical fiber connection side
The cross section of is enlarged, for example, corresponding to the core diameter of the large-diameter optical fiber. The cross section of the optical waveguide 12 at the end 12b on the side connected to the optical switch unit 11 is set smaller than the end 12a on the side connecting the external optical fiber. For example, in this embodiment, the cross section of the end portion 12a of the optical waveguide 12 on the external optical fiber connection side is 120 μm corresponding to the core diameter of the POF, and the end portion 12a of the optical waveguide 12 on the side connected to the optical switch portion 11 is formed. The cross section of the end 12b is
It is set to 10 μm, which corresponds to the core diameter of the quartz SM fiber. The optical switch unit 1 provided on the substrate 13
1 and the optical waveguide 12, and the connecting means are arranged and arranged on substantially the same plane.

In this way, even when the optical switch section 11 is formed by using a small optical waveguide type switch circuit for silica SM (single mode) fiber as an optical switch for a large diameter fiber such as POF, Through the optical waveguide 12 having a beam diameter conversion function, the light is effectively introduced into the optical switch unit 11, and the light from the optical switch unit 11 is effectively introduced into the large-diameter fiber such as the POF on the output side. Will be able to. Therefore, a compact and high-performance optical switching device can be configured. Further, the optical waveguide 12 used for converting the beam diameter in this embodiment is, for example, JP-A-8-2340.
It can be manufactured using the configuration and method disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62 (the above correspond to claim 1, claim 2 and claim 5).

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a main part of an optical switching device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The optical switching device shown in FIG. 2 includes an optical switch unit 21 and an internal optical fiber 22. Although not clearly shown, the optical switch section 21 constituting the switch main body section has one or more optical path changing elements and a light guide section having a predetermined beam diameter. The internal optical fiber 22 forming the light guide unit guides the light beam between the connection unit (not shown) and the light guide unit of the optical switch unit 21, and also the beam on the light guide unit side of the optical switch unit 21. It has a beam diameter conversion function for converting the beam diameter in correspondence with the diameter and the beam diameter on the side of the connecting means. The connecting means corresponds to an external optical fiber (not shown) such as a POF large-diameter optical fiber having a beam diameter larger than the beam diameter of the light guide section of the optical switch section 21 outside the optical switching device. Is a means for connecting the optical switching device to the external optical fiber, which has a beam diameter larger than the beam diameter of the light guide portion, and is, for example, a connection connector portion for the external optical fiber or the like.

That is, in the optical switching device shown in FIG. 2, an internal optical fiber 22 is used to connect the connection connector part, which is a connecting means of the external optical fiber, and the optical switch part 21 inside the optical switching device. There is. The internal optical fiber 22 has different core diameters at both ends, and converts the beam diameter of light passing through the internal optical fiber 22. The core diameter of the end portion 22a of the internal optical fiber 22 on the external optical fiber connection side is set to 120 μm so as to correspond to the core diameter of the large-diameter optical fiber that is the external optical fiber. The core diameter of the end portion 22b of the internal optical fiber on the side connected to the optical switch portion 21 is set to 10 μm corresponding to the core diameter of the silica SM fiber. Further, as the optical switch unit 21, the conventional switch configuration for the silica type SM fiber is used. As described above, even when the conventional small switch circuit for the silica-based SM fiber is used in the optical switch unit 21 for the POF large-diameter fiber, the light can be effectively introduced into the optical switch unit 21 and the optical switch unit 21 can be used. The light from the portion 21 can be effectively introduced into the POF large-diameter fiber on the output side. Therefore,
An optical switch device with high light utilization efficiency can be constructed.

In this embodiment, the internal optical fiber 2
The optical fiber having a beam diameter converting function used as No. 2 can be manufactured by using the configuration and method disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 54-61946 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-98206 (the above is the above. , Claim 1, claim 3 and claim 5). FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a main part of an optical switching device according to a third embodiment of the present invention. The optical switching device shown in FIG. 3 includes an optical switch unit 31 and a conversion optical system 32. Optical switch unit 3 that constitutes the switch body
Reference numeral 1 constitutes a micromirror type optical switch having, as one or more optical path changing elements, a micromirror 31a which is movable up and down as shown in the drawing. The conversion optical system 32 that constitutes the light guide means includes the external optical fiber 3
An optical path is formed between the connection means (not shown) of FIG. 3 and the optical switch section 21 to guide the light beam, and the beam spot diameter at the micro mirror 31a of the optical switch section 31 and the core of the external optical fiber 33 are formed. It has a beam diameter conversion function for converting the beam diameter in correspondence with the diameter and the diameter.

The connecting means is outside the optical switching device, and the micro mirror 31a of the optical switch section 31 is provided.
A large beam diameter can be handled in correspondence with an external optical fiber 33 such as a POF large-diameter optical fiber having a core diameter larger than the beam spot diameter in, and the optical switching device is connected to the external optical fiber 33. There is, for example, a connection connector portion of the external optical fiber 33 or the like. A conversion optical system 32 optically couples the end of the external optical fiber 33 and the micromirror 31a of the optical switch unit 31 inside the optical switching device. The conversion optical system 32 converts the beam diameter using at least one lens. In this case, the conversion optical system 32 is composed of a convex lens or the like and collects the passing light to convert the beam diameter. That is, in the optical switching device shown in FIG. 3, the optical switch unit 31 includes a movable micromirror disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-258704 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-352676 described above. The same movable micromirror 31a is used.

In this case, the micromirror 31a is vertically driven by an electric signal applied from the outside.
That is, the micromirror 31a is a micromirror similar to that used for a conventional switch of a silica-based SM fiber, for example, and the size of the micromirror 31a is a square of about 20 μm in length and width. In this case, as the external optical fiber 33 for the incident light of the signal light, the external optical fiber 33 for the passing light, and the external optical fiber (not shown) for the reflected light, for example, a POF having a core diameter of 125 μm is used. There is. The light emitted from the external optical fiber 33 for incident light is narrowed down by the conversion optical system 32, and the micro mirror 31
A beam spot of about 12 μm is formed at the position a. Then, as shown by the solid line in FIG.
When a is in the upper position in the figure, the incident light from the external optical fiber 33 is reflected by the micro mirror 31a, the reflected light is deflected toward the front in the figure, and the end surface position of the external optical fiber for reflected light is converted by the conversion optical system 32. At the external optical fiber 3
The diameter is 125 μm, which is equal to the core diameter of the POF that forms the optical path No. 3, and enters the POF that forms the external optical fiber for reflected light (not shown).

On the other hand, as shown by the broken line in FIG. 3, when the micro mirror 31a is in the lower position in the drawing, the incident light from the external optical fiber 33 does not enter the micro mirror 31a, but the optical switch section 31 does. Pass through. The light that has passed through the optical switch unit 31 is further converted in beam diameter by the conversion optical system 32 so that it becomes 125 μm, which is equal to the core diameter of the POF, which is the external optical fiber 33, at the end face position of the external optical fiber 33 for passing light. Then, the light enters the POF forming the external optical fiber 33 for transmitted light. In this case, as the conversion optical system 32, for example, a single-convex microlens is used. In this way, the conversion optical system 32
By converting the beam diameter with the external optical fiber 3
The conventional small micro mirror 31a for quartz fiber can be used as it is for the optical switch portion 31 for the large-diameter POF having a diameter of 3. (The above corresponds to claim 1, claim 4, and claim 5). That is, the configuration of the optical switching device according to claim 1 of the present invention is an optical switching device including a switch main body having one or more optical path conversion elements, wherein the optical switching device is at least an external optical fiber and an optical switching device. And a light guide means for optically connecting the connection means and the light guide section of the switch body in the optical switching device, wherein the light guide means is the connection means. A beam diameter conversion function is provided so that the beam diameter on the means side becomes larger than the beam diameter on the switch body side.

According to the optical switching device of the present invention having the above-mentioned structure, the optical switching device has a beam diameter smaller than the beam diameter determined by the core diameter of the connected external optical fiber. In addition, the loss of light between the external optical fiber and the main body of the optical switch can be reduced. According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an optical switching device, wherein the light guide means is composed of an optical waveguide device formed on a substrate, and the connection means, the light guide means, and a switch body portion are provided. However, they are configured on substantially the same plane. In the optical switching device according to claim 2 configured as described above,
A waveguide type optical switch corresponding to a beam diameter smaller than the beam diameter determined by the core diameter of the external optical fiber can be used. According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an optical switching device according to the first aspect, wherein the light guide unit is formed of an optical fiber, and the optical fibers have different core diameters at both ends and are different in beam diameter from each other. Has a conversion function. In the optical switching device according to claim 3 configured as described above, an optical switch corresponding to a beam diameter smaller than the beam diameter determined by the core diameter of the external optical fiber is used, and It is possible to suppress the loss of light between them to a small extent, and it is possible to increase the degree of freedom of the positional relationship between the connection portion with respect to the external optical fiber and the optical switch body.

The optical switching device according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is configured such that the light guiding means in the first aspect is a reduction / enlargement optical system using at least one lens. In the optical switching device according to claim 4 configured as described above, the optical switching device is configured by using the optical switch main body corresponding to the beam diameter smaller than the beam diameter determined by the core diameter of the external optical fiber, Moreover, the optical switching device can be configured without directly connecting other components / members to the optical input / output unit of the optical switch body. In the configuration of the optical switching device according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, POF (plastic optical fiber) is used as the external optical fiber. Claim 5 comprised in this way
In the above optical switching device, a POF having a large core diameter can be handled by an optical switching device using parts and devices for a conventional small optical switch for quartz optical fiber.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an optical switching device which can be used as an optical switch for optical fiber communication and which can realize high performance and low cost. it can. That is, according to the optical switching device of claim 1 of the present invention, in the optical switching device provided with the switch main body composed of one or more optical path conversion elements, the optical switching device is at least external to the optical switching device. Connecting means for connecting the external optical fiber and the optical switching device in, connecting the connecting means of this optical switching device and a predetermined light guide part of the switch body in the optical switching device, between them A light guide means for guiding a light beam, the beam diameter of the light guide means on the connection means side is larger than the beam diameter on the switch body side, and the light guide means has a beam diameter conversion function. As a result, it can be used as an optical switch for optical fiber communication,
Moreover, it is possible to realize high performance and low cost, and in particular, by using an optical switch main body corresponding to a beam diameter smaller than the beam diameter determined by the core diameter of the external optical fiber to be connected, the optical fiber and the optical switch main body are used. By suppressing the loss of light between the two, it is possible to use a switch for a fiber with a small core diameter as the optical switch body, and you can use the existing technical assets for optical fiber for large-diameter optical fiber, It is possible to improve reliability and reduce cost.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an optical switching device, wherein the light guide means is composed of an optical waveguide device formed on a substrate, and the connecting means is provided.
Since the light guide means and the switch body are arranged on substantially the same plane, in particular, a waveguide optical switch corresponding to a beam diameter smaller than the beam diameter determined by the core diameter of the external optical fiber to be connected. It is possible to configure a waveguide type optical switching device by using, and it is possible to reduce the cost of the optical switch for large-diameter optical fibers. According to the optical switching device of claim 3 of the present invention, the light guide means is composed of an optical fiber, and the optical fiber has different core diameters at both ends and has a function of converting the beam diameter. It is possible to use an optical switch main body corresponding to a beam diameter smaller than the beam diameter determined by the core diameter of the external optical fiber to be connected, and to suppress light loss between the external optical fiber and the optical switch main body to be small. In addition, the degree of freedom of the positional relationship between the connection portion with respect to the external optical fiber and the optical switch body can be increased, and the cost and size of the optical switch for large-diameter optical fiber can be reduced. .

According to the optical switching device of the fourth aspect of the present invention, the light guide means includes a beam diameter conversion optical system using at least one lens, so that the external light to be connected is A large-diameter optical fiber can be configured by using an optical switch main body corresponding to a beam diameter smaller than the beam diameter determined by the core diameter of the fiber and without directly connecting another member to the optical switch main body. It is possible to achieve cost reduction and high reliability of the optical switch for use. According to the optical switching device of claim 5 of the present invention, by using a plastic optical fiber as the external optical fiber, in particular, a component for a small optical switch such as a conventional quartz optical fiber or By using the device, it is possible to switch a plastic optical fiber having a large core diameter, and it is possible to achieve cost reduction of an optical information communication system.

[Brief description of drawings]

1A and 1B are diagrams schematically showing a configuration of a main part of an optical switching device according to a first embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1A is an enlarged perspective view and FIG. A waveguide enlarged sectional view, and (c) is an optical waveguide sectional view on the external optical fiber side.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view schematically showing a configuration of a main part of an optical switching device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing a configuration of a main part of an optical switching device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view schematically showing the configuration of an example of a conventional optical switch.

5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view schematically showing a detailed configuration of part of the optical switch of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a plan view schematically showing the configuration of another example of the conventional optical switch.

7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line bb ′ of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a plan view schematically showing the configuration of another example of the conventional optical switch.

9 is a sectional view taken along line bb ′ of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 Optical switch 11a light guide path 12 Optical waveguide 13 board 21 Optical switch 22 Internal optical fiber 31 Optical switch part 31a Micro mirror 32 conversion optics 33 External optical fiber

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An optical switching device having one or more optical path conversion elements, wherein the optical switching device comprises at least one or more optical path conversion elements and a switch main body section having a light guide section with a predetermined beam diameter. A beam diameter larger than the beam diameter of the light guide portion corresponding to the external optical fiber having a beam diameter larger than the beam diameter of the light guide portion of the switch body outside the optical switching device, Connecting means for connecting the optical switching device to the external optical fiber, guiding a light beam between the connecting means and the light guide section of the switch body, and the light guide section side of the switch body section. And a light guide means having a beam diameter conversion function for converting the beam diameter in correspondence with the beam diameter of the connection means and the beam diameter of the connection means. That optical switching devices. 2. The light guide means is composed of an optical waveguide device formed on a substrate, and the connecting means, the light guide means and the switch body are arranged and arranged on substantially the same plane. The optical switching device according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The optical switching device according to claim 1, wherein the light guide unit is composed of an optical fiber having different core diameters at both ends and having a beam diameter conversion function. 4. The optical switching device according to claim 1, wherein the light guide unit includes a beam diameter conversion optical system using at least one lens. 5. The optical switching device according to claim 1, wherein a plastic optical fiber is used as the external optical fiber.