JPH03255417A - Rotary optical switch - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a high-function rotary optical switch which is small-sized, low-loss, and low-cost and is superior in reliability for a long period of time by mounting a circular substrate of a full wafer, on which waveguide type optical circuits are collectively formed and mounted, on a rotation driving part of high controllability as it is. CONSTITUTION:Waveguide type optical circuits 13 to 16 to be connected to input/output fibers 18 to 21 in the periphery of a perfectly circular substrate 12 by switching are formed on this substrate 12, and a driving system is provided which rotates this circular substrate 12 at a desired angle of rotation and stops it. Consequently, the plane circular substrate 12 on which waveguide type optical function devices are formed and mounted is switched to input/output devices 18 to 21 by a short stroke. Thus, the multifunction rotary optical switch is obtained which is small-sized and low-loss and is superior in reliability for a long period of time.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[Industrial Field of Application J] The present invention relates to an optical switch used in all fields including optical communication, optical information processing, relay system, and subscriber system, and particularly relates to an optical switch that is used in various fields including a plurality of various waveguide type optical functional devices. This invention relates to a rotary type optical switch for switching a flat circular board formed and mounted with a small size, low loss, low cost, and extremely small crosstalk.

[Conventional technology] Optical fiber communication has been actively researched in various countries over the past several years, and has steadily progressed and become more popular, as it is expected to offer higher speeds and higher capacity than conventional telecommunications. . However, because the problems of various connection technology switching techniques and positioning techniques, which are the biggest weakness of optical communications, cannot be easily solved, the current situation is that optical communication has not become as popular as expected. Among them, optical switches or low-speed optical switches are
It will play an important role in the near future, enabling flexible switching of optical fiber lines according to demand, securing detour routes in the event of line failure, and realizing flexible optical networks that support a wide variety of services. it is conceivable that. While current optical communication still retains the essential characteristics of spatial propagation of light and its straightness, there is no denying the need for improvements in various connection technologies and, by extension, in mounting technologies for optical components. Conventional configurations of optical components are mainly classified into 1) bulk type, 2) fiber type, and 3) waveguide type. The bulk type is assembled using classical optical components such as a movable prism and a lens interference film filter. The fiber type is assembled by processing processes such as cutting, polishing, fusing, stretching, and fabricating and assembling various special jigs from optical fibers and optical fiber base materials. In the waveguide type, various waveguides are collectively formed on a substrate with high submicron precision by making full use of semiconductor manufacturing equipment and photo transfer technology. In the future, it is thought that monolithic optical integrated circuits will be formed in which all optical functional components are formed on a single substrate. The number of each assembly component is smaller in the above order, and the positional accuracy is improved, so the latter is more preferable from a mounting point of view. However, even if a monolithic optical integrated circuit could be realized, it would already be widespread. We believe that it is inevitable to connect the optical fiber network with the existing optical fiber network, and that there will naturally be a need to connect the waveguide on the board and the optical fiber with high precision and with low loss. It will be done. A waveguide 181 formed on a substrate and an optical fiber 182
As a method for connecting and switching with high precision, for example, as shown in FIG.
A so-called static switching system with no moving parts can be considered by combining the directional coupler type optical waveguide switch 1g4. However, this method of manually inserting the connector jig directly into the board requires considerable force to be applied to the board, which poses a problem in terms of reliability. Additionally, in general, waveguide optical switches that perform switching using optical interference inherently have wavelength dependence and polarization dependence, and it is extremely difficult to achieve self-maintenance without energy supply. Therefore, crosstalk after switching becomes a problem. Normally, the crosstalk of such a waveguide type optical switch is -3
It is difficult to keep it below 0 dB. Taking into account the instability of current laser light source output power, the crosstalk becomes even worse (and the above configuration method cannot be said to be realistic. On the other hand, a dynamic mechanical switching method with moving parts) essentially has no wavelength dependence or polarization dependence, and self-maintenance can be realized relatively easily. Therefore, it can be used as a method for connecting and switching the waveguide on the substrate and the optical fiber with high precision. is considered to be the best mechanical switching method.There are two types of mechanical switching methods: a sliding type that slides in one direction, and a rotary type that switches by rotating.In the sliding type, the position axis x.
y. z Adjustment of a total of five axes of rotational axes α and β is required, and there is a drawback that alignment of the optical axis is extremely difficult, and the number of times of switching is currently limited to several dozen times. Against this. The rotary type has the potential to achieve optical axis alignment relatively easily simply by considering the accuracy of the rotation axis. A conventional rotary optical switch will be described below. (1) Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 185715/1985 describes a rotary switch as shown in FIG. 23. 191 is a selective optical fiber, 192 is a common optical fiber, 1
93 is a V-groove, 194 is an optical fiber arrangement stand, 195 is a rotating shaft, 196 is an optical fiber sleeve with a rod lens, 19
F is a rotating plate for holding and rotating the common optical fiber 192. In the present invention, a common optical fiber 192 is rotated about a rotating shaft 195 by a stepping motor with respect to a selected optical fiber 191, and the optical fibers to be connected are switched. In the rotary optical switch configured in this way, the red lens of the optical fiber sleeve with rod lens 196 is used as a collimating lens for optical coupling, and the diameter of the rod lens is smaller than the core diameter of the optical fibers 191 and 192. Since the tolerance for optical axis deviation is several tens of times larger than that in the case where the common optical fiber 192 and the selected optical fiber 191 are directly optically coupled, the tolerance for optical axis deviation is several lOμ-.
If the rotary plate 197 to which the optical fiber sleeve 196 with rod lens attached to the rod lens 92 is fixed is rotated by a desired angle using a stepping motor, optical coupling can be achieved with good reproducibility just by the stopping position accuracy of the stepping motor. Since there are no contact parts, it is highly durable and reliable. (2) Fig. 24 shows an example of the optical switch disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 64-57217, and Fig. 24 (a) is a plan view, (
b) The figure is a cross-sectional view. The invention is provided with a rotation mechanism that rotates the prism 201 by a predetermined angle, changes the incident position on the prism, and switches the light output position. The rotation mechanism uses an electromagnet to attract and rotate a magnet 203 attached to the prism fixing plate 202, and its angle is determined by a stopper 20 attached to the rotation axis guide.
It is regulated by 4. 205A, 205B, 205
C$ and 205D are optical fibers to be switched and connected, 2
06 is a lens, 207 is a fixed axis. 208 is a stop plate, and 209 is a fixed shaft guide. (3) FIG. 25 is an example of an optical switch shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-112116. In the invention, n
The optical fibers 211a, 211b, 211c are
A switching element 213 for optically connecting any two mutually adjacent optical fibers is provided on a rotating body 212 arranged radially at equal intervals and rotatable about the intersection of these optical fiber axes. By rotating it in a predetermined direction, any two adjacent optical fibers can be optically connected. The switching element 213 is made of an optical fiber in FIGS. (a) and (b), and is made of a reflecting mirror in FIGS. (c) and (d). 214a, 2
14b and 214c are rod lenses. (4) FIG. 26 is an example of a fiber-wired rotary access optical switch disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 58-80603. 221-1 to 221-8 are rotating disks, 222-
1 to 222-8 are optical fiber input lines, 223 is a wiring fiber, and 224-1 to 224-8 are optical fiber output lines. This is a system in which a plurality of rotating disks 221-1 to 221-8, to which a plurality of wiring fibers 223 are wired, are arranged in multiple stages so that they can each rotate independently, and optical fibers are arranged facing around the rotating disk. The optical connections between the lines 222-1 to 222-8 and the optical fiber output lines 224-1 to 224-8 are switched. (5) FIG. 27 is an example of an optical changeover switch shown in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 50-133854. 230
1 is the rotor, 2302 is the stator, 2311.2321
．． 2331.2341゜2390, 2391.2392
．． 2393.2394.2395.2396.2397
is an optical transmission line, 2312.2313.2314.2315
．． 2316.2317.2318゜2319, 2380
．． 2381.2382.23g3.2384.2385
．． 2386 and 2387 are joint parts. This is because the optical transmission lines 2311 and 2 formed on the outer peripheral surface of the rotor 2301
Joint part 23 corresponding to the end of 321, 2331.2341
12.2313.2314.2315.231B. 2317.231Jl, 2319 and the coupling parts 2380 to 2387, which correspond to the ends of the transmission lines 2390 to 2397 on the opening surface of the stator, which has a circular opening with a diameter slightly smaller than the minimum outer diameter of the rotor. This is to switch and connect. [Problems to be Solved by the Invention] As explained above, conventional rotary optical switching devices have individual optical components such as optical fibers, prisms, and reflective mirrors mounted on a single circular substrate. Since the manufacturing process is extremely complicated and takes a long time, there are major problems in terms of cost reduction and reliability. Also,
These optical switchers simply switch the signal line from one or more input optical fibers to one or more output optical fibers, and do not have switching circuits or optical functions. There was no idea of switching parts between the input optical fiber and the output optical fiber. Furthermore, with conventional rotary optical switchers, it is difficult to control the rotation of the rotating body with high precision and accurately align the optical path, and there has been insufficient consideration of losses in the connection parts. The disadvantage was that there was a large loss in the equipment. As described above, there have been no reports on new configuration examples of optical switches that maximize the advantages of rotary optical switches (including substrate material, optical waveguide material design and fabrication method, and rotational drive method and overall switch configuration). There were no specific design guidelines for rotary type optical switches.The purpose of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks, and to apply it to all fields, including relay systems and subscriber systems, such as optical communication and optical information processing fields. , it is possible to switch a flat circular substrate formed or mounted with various waveguide-type optical functional devices to multiple input/output fibers with extremely small crosstalk.Small size, low loss, low cost, Our objective is to provide a rotary type optical switch (optical circuit board mounting configuration method) that has excellent long-term reliability and extremely high functionality.

[Means to solve the problem]

The present invention provides a waveguide-type optical circuit or a waveguide-type optical circuit in which the shape of the substrate is approximately a perfect circle, and on the substrate is switched and connected to one or more pairs of input/output fibers or external waveguides facing around the substrate. a circular substrate on which an optical circuit group is formed, and at least one input/output waveguide port arranged near the periphery of the circular substrate so as to be substantially perpendicular to the outer periphery of the substrate; It is characterized by being equipped with a drive system that rotates the motor by a desired rotation angle and then stops the motor.
In other words, an optical switch is realized by mounting a full-wafer circular substrate on which a waveguide type optical circuit or a group of waveguide type optical circuits are collectively formed and mounted on a rotary drive unit with good controllability. In the present invention, one or more circular substrates formed with waveguide type optical circuits are rotated by a desired rotation angle using a remote control drive system, and then stopped. Switch the light function. As for the drive system,
Because the rotor has a simple structure, it is easy to reduce the inertia and make the start-up and stop times less than a few milliseconds.The acceleration can be increased to several thousand G (G: gravitational acceleration) and the rotational propulsive force can be large, even when the power is off. It is desirable to use an ultrasonic motor that has features such as a self-holding function that uses frictional force to stay in position, and has low speed, high torque, low power consumption, and good controllability. According to the present invention, a flat circular substrate on which a variety of waveguide-type optical functional devices are formed and mounted can be switched to multiple input/output optical fibers with extremely small crosstalk, and is small, low loss, and low cost. We are able to provide a rotary type optical switch with excellent long-term reliability and extremely high functionality.

【Example】

In the following example, a silicon substrate is used as the circular substrate and a silica-based single mode waveguide is used as the optical waveguide. This is because it is possible to provide a practical optical switch with excellent performance, and the present invention is not limited to silica-based optical waveguides. Any circular substrate material may be used as long as it is possible to form an optical waveguide on the substrate, such as a quartz substrate, a ceramic substrate, a metal substrate, a stainless steel substrate, or a crystalline optical waveguide substrate such as lithium niobate. , an ultrasonic motor will be used as the rotational drive system to rotate the circular substrate, but compared to conventional electromagnetic motors, this is capable of generating a magnetic field with high torque conversion efficiency in the low speed range. Good controllability,
It has excellent features such as high self-holding power, low cost, and can be expected to be miniaturized, making it ideal for application to self-holding optical switching devices. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to ultrasonic motors, and it goes without saying that any drive system having the above-mentioned features can be used.

[Example A group]

FIG. 1 is a first embodiment showing the basic overall configuration of the optical switch of the present invention, and is a configuration example diagram of a 2x2 optical switch. FIG. 1(a) is a plan view, and FIG. (b) is a sectional view. Reference numeral 11 represents a support base that supports the entire optical switch, and reference numeral 12 represents a silicon substrate on which an optical waveguide is formed. 13, 14, 15, and 16 are silica-based optical waveguides formed on the silicon substrate 12 using a silica-based glass material. They are formed all at once with submicron precision by a known method described below. In other words, these optical waveguide circuits have a film thickness of 5
It consists of a SlOx-Tin□-based glass core portion with a vertical and horizontal dimension of about 8 μ■ embedded in a SiO□-based glass layer with a thickness of about 0 μm, and is composed of a straight-line bang and an arc-shaped bang with a curvature radius of 50 μ. Such a silica-based optical waveguide can be formed by a known combination of a glass film deposition technique using flame hydrolysis reaction of silicon tetrachloride or titanium tetrachloride, and microfabrication techniques such as photolithography and reactive ion etching. Of course, it should be noted that if the difference in refractive index between the core and cladding of the optical waveguide is increased, light confinement will be improved and at the same time the radius of curvature can be reduced to less than 50mm, making it possible to reduce the size accordingly ( , the substrate 12 has a hole in the center, and the shaft 17 passes through the hole.In this embodiment, the button of the optical waveguide is designed to avoid the switching shaft 17, but if the shaft 17 is on the substrate. This does not apply if a structure that does not protrude is acceptable.In addition, the input/output ports of the optical waveguide are designed to be almost perpendicular to the circumference of the substrate.This and the lens effect of the arc of the substrate In addition, there are some intersection points in the middle of these optical waveguides, but the intersection angle is set to 40° or more.Second
The figure shows the dependence of the crossing loss on the crossing angle. As is clear from the figure, the crossing loss is extremely low, less than O-ldB, when the crossing angle is 40° or more. In FIG. 1, 1g, 19, 20.21 are input and output optical fibers, and 22A is a V-groove for fixing the position of the optical fiber. 23A is a ceramic ferrule for polishing the end face of the optical fiber and protecting it during mounting; 24A is a fine adjustment mechanism for aligning the optical axes of the input/output optical fiber and the optical waveguide; 24B and 24C are fine adjustment mechanisms, respectively. 25 is an adjustment screw, 25 is a stopper fine adjustment mechanism, 25 is a screw, 25B is a fine adjustment screw, and 26.27 is a positioning stopper. As the rotation switching drive section, a known technology called an ultrasonic motor, which is a new drive source that converts the electrostriction effect of piezoelectric ceramics into rotational motion, is used. Figure 3 shows the principle ([Nikkei Electronics J
No, 423. pp111-117, 1987),
That is, the piezoelectric ceramic is divided into two, and λ/4
(λ: resonant wavelength) and when alternating current voltage is applied so that the phase of the voltage applied to each is also shifted by 90 degrees, two standing waves are generated whose positions and phases are shifted by 90 degrees. (See Figure 3(A)). Then, the mass point on the surface of the elastic body (stator) vibrates in an elliptical trajectory due to these combined waves. Here, if a preload is applied to the moving body (rotor), the moving body will be given a driving force in the direction of the arrow due to the friction between the moving body and the elastic body, and will move (see Fig. 3 (B)). Ultrasonic Maw Micrometer 406A High lux conversion efficiency, no magnetic field generation, good controllability, large self-holding force, low cost.
It can be expected to be smaller. It has features that conventional electromagnetic motors do not have, such as, and is ideal for application to self-holding line switching moonlight switches used in low speed ranges. The method of rotational motion in ultrasonic motors is the ``travelling wave type.''
“Standing wave type” [There are hula hoop types, etc., but the main point is:
All that is required is to be able to rotate up to 360 degrees around an ultra-precise rotation axis and achieve reliable self-holding at a desired position. Alternatively, it is also possible to provide a sensor such as an encoder and perform positioning using feedback control. Returning to FIG. 1, 28 is an ultrasonic motor and a circular substrate 1.
2, 29.30 is a piezoelectric element such as PZT, 31 is an elastic body such as stainless steel, 32
3 is a rotor on which the circular substrate 12 is mounted, 33 is a power source for supplying voltage to the piezoelectric element, and 34 and 35 are a preload nut and a spring for pressing the circular substrate against the ultrasonic motor, respectively. In this example, two sections A145 and A! of the piezoelectric ceramic shown in FIG. 3 are used. Piezoelectric elements 29J5 and 29J5 and 30 corresponding to the above are used, which are shifted by 1/4 wavelength and integrated. By applying voltages that are 90° out of phase from the power sources 33A and 33B, the rotor 32. Therefore, the substrate 12 is rotated. FIG. 1 shows optical fibers 18 and 20. Optical fibers 19 and 2
1 is shown in a state where they are optically coupled. Rotate the substrate 12 counterclockwise to connect the optical fibers 18 and 2.
1. The optical fibers 19 and 20 can be coupled together, and the substrate 12 can be reversed to return to the state shown in FIG. As a power source, for example, a frequency of 70 kHz and a voltage of 30 V is used. Of course, it is also possible to use an ultrasonic motor using a single piezoelectric element. It is desirable that the eccentricity of the shaft 17 be 1 μm or less, and the smaller the difference in the inner diameter of the center hole of the shaft 17 and the substrate 12, the better. FIG. 4 is a second embodiment showing the basic configuration of the optical switch of the present invention, and is a diagram showing a configuration example of 2x2 switching which is a further improvement of the first embodiment, and FIG. 4(a) is a plan view, and FIG. (b)
is a sectional view. This example is similar to the first example in that the optical fibers are mounted on the same member, the rotation angle can be finely adjusted, and the quartz waveguide on the substrate and the optical fiber are matched with high precision. have very different advantages. Three micrometers 406A are placed in the center of the support stand 401.
, 406B, and 406C support an ultrasonic motor mounting stage 402 via two springs 402A. 403 is the rotor of the ultrasonic motor. 404 is a silicon substrate, 405 is a stop positioning bottle attached to the rotor, and a micrometer 40? A
, 407B stops the rotor. 408,4
09 is an optical fiber mounting member, with an O-ring 410 interposed in the middle, and screws 411A, 411B, 41
By adjusting the tightness of IC, 411D, V
The optical fibers 414A, 414B, 414C, 4140 with zirconia ferrules 413 to 4130 mounted in the grooves 412A, 412B, 412C, 412D are butted against the quartz waveguide on the silicon substrate 404. In Example 1 (Figure 1) or Example 2 (Figure 4), 2
x2 switch is taken up, but circular board 12 or 40
Various switches can be realized by appropriately changing the button design of the optical waveguide on the optical waveguide 4. For example, FIG. 5 shows a configuration example of an lx2 switch circular board as a third embodiment. In this case, the two optical waveguides 13J5 and 14 are provided without crossing each other to realize switching between the optical fibers 19 and 20. An IxN optical switch can be constructed in exactly the same manner as this embodiment, provided that the optical waveguide button is housed within a circular substrate, has low loss, and allows input/output extraction. Moreover, by developing the above explanation, it is also possible to realize a more NXN optical switch as shown in FIG. 6 as a fourth embodiment. That is, since it is possible to perform not only rotational movement but also linear movement using an ultrasonic motor, it is possible to perform not only rotational movement but also linear movement.
Rotation positioning of a waveguide type switching unit having a structure in which N circular substrates 37A to 37N having an N switch function are laminated, or a structure in which N optical waveguide layers having an lxN switch function are multilayered on one circular substrate. The optical fibers 40A to 4ON can be switched by mounting the optical fibers on the ultrasonic motor 38 for height positioning, and mounting them all on the ultrasonic motor 39 for height positioning. In this case, feedback positioning control using an encoder or the like is required. It should be noted that it is extremely easy to achieve these things with the silica-based glass material described in this example, compared to other waveguide materials such as lithium niobate. The basic embodiments of the present invention have been described above, but the greatest feature of the present invention is that in addition to the advantages of the bulk type, which has little wavelength dependence, relatively low loss, and can be self-maintained, , we apply the advantages of three-dimensional optical waveguides using photolithography and microfabrication technology to the switch switching section, and we also have high torque conversion efficiency in the low speed region, no generation of magnetic field, good controllability, and self-holding power. It can be expected to be low cost and compact. By combining ultrasonic motors with these features, a 1x2 or 2x2 optical switch is being realized. [Embodiment BuJ In the previous embodiments, the only function was to simply switch the signal line from one or more input optical fibers to one or more output optical fibers. Various switches can also be realized by appropriately changing the button design of the optical waveguide on the circular substrate 12 or 36 to form various optical functional circuits or groups of optical functional circuits. Examples regarding these circuit configurations will be described in detail below. First, as a first step, a case will be described in which one waveguide type optical circuit is formed at an arbitrary location on a circular substrate. FIG. 7 shows an example of a basic circuit configuration according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a circular silicon substrate, and 21 and 22 are an input optical fiber and an output field fiber that are butted against the optical waveguide formed on the circular substrate 1, respectively. 51 is an arbitrary single-function optical circuit A formed on a silicon substrate l; 41 and 42 are each an optical circuit 51. This is an input/output optical waveguide provided for connecting the optical fibers 21 and 22. 51 optical circuit A and waveguides 41 and 42
, 43 and 44 are formed all at once with submicron precision by a known method described below. That is, these optical waveguide circuits, etc. are made of SiOx-TiO with vertical and horizontal dimensions of about 8 μm embedded in a SiOz glass layer with a film thickness of about 50 μm.
Consists of an x-type glass core part with a straight line and a radius of curvature of 50
It is composed of ■■ arcuate bangs. Such a silica-based optical waveguide can be formed by a known combination of a glass film deposition technique using flame hydrolysis reaction of silicon tetrachloride or titanium tetrachloride, and microfabrication techniques such as photolithography and reactive ion etching. Of course, it should be noted that increasing the refractive index difference between the core and cladding of the optical waveguide will improve light confinement and at the same time reduce the radius of curvature to 501 m or less, making it possible to downsize accordingly. 43 and 44 are optical waveguides for input/output ports, respectively, and are part of the optical waveguides 41 and 42.These are intentionally arranged so as to be almost perpendicular to the outer periphery of the substrate, so that the input/output fibers can be connected to each other. 21 and 22 can be easily butted against the input/output port optical waveguides 43 and 44, respectively, and connected with low loss.By maintaining this state, the optical signal from the input fiber 21 can be connected to the optical waveguides 43 and 44 for input/output ports, respectively. A to the output fiber 22.Meanwhile, from this state, a remotely controlled drive system rotates the circular substrate around its central axis 6 by a distance sufficient to block the optical signal. By switching the circular board and then stopping it, the optical signal from the output fiber can be cut off with a crosstalk of -30 dB or less.In this way, the circular board is rotated around its central axis for switching. This invention has the advantage that the distance between the axis and the end face of the substrate is almost constant, so that the input/output optical fiber and the substrate do not come into contact.Furthermore, the lens effect of the arc of the substrate is added to realize a structure with low connection loss. Therefore, according to this configuration example, the input signal is transferred to the single-function optical circuit A.
It is possible to switch between the function of transmitting the signal to the output side via the input signal and the function of blocking the input signal with low connection loss. In addition, by arranging all of the above-mentioned optical circuits (optical circuit B, optical circuit C, etc., which have the same configuration and are different from optical circuit A) in the blank area on the board, optical circuit A, optical circuit B, optical circuit C.
... can be simultaneously switched to independent output fibers. Furthermore, optical circuit A, optical circuit B, optical circuit C-
... has a bidirectional function, bidirectional switching is also possible. FIG. 8 shows, as a sixth embodiment of the present invention, a pair of input/output fibers 23 and 24 in addition to the fifth embodiment (FIG. 7).
This is an example of a configuration in which . Here, input/output fiber 2
7 in that input and output fibers 3 and 24 are arranged at equal intervals in the clockwise direction of input and output fibers 21 and 22, respectively. In such a configuration example, the input fibers 21, 23 and the rotating shaft 6. Alternatively, the optical circuit A can be switched to the newly added input/output fiber 23.24 by rotating the circular substrate clockwise by the angle θ1 defined by the output fiber 22.24 and the rotating shaft 6. Note that the angle θ can be set to any desired angle. of course,
In a similar manner, by arranging N pairs of input and output fibers, it is possible to switch the optical circuit A to any optical line among the N pairs. The point is that the input/output fiber pair should be arranged around the substrate so as to maintain the angle θ8 expected between the input/output fibers 21 and 22 and the rotating shaft 6. In addition, by placing all optical circuits (optical circuits B, C, etc., which have the same configuration and are different from optical circuit A) in the blank area on the board, optical circuit A, optical circuit B, optical circuit C, etc. It is also possible to simultaneously switch each of the optical circuits A, B, C, etc. to independent output fibers.Furthermore, if the optical circuit A, the optical circuit B, the optical circuit C, and so on have a bidirectional function, bidirectional switching is also possible. FIG. 9 shows a seventh embodiment of the present invention, in which a Matsuyachi Tsuenda type interferometer optical circuit having a directional coupler 8 is applied as the optical circuit A (51) of the sixth embodiment (FIG. 8). In this way, one single function circuit can be switched to multiple pairs of input/output fibers. FIG. 10 shows the eighth embodiment of the present invention, and the sixth embodiment (
As the optical circuit A (51) in Fig. 8), a 1x8 three-stage Y
This is an example of applying a branch circuit and duplicating it. In this way, by duplicating the circuit, it is possible to recover from switching in the event of a circuit failure. FIG. 11 shows a ninth embodiment of the present invention, and a sixth embodiment (
This is a configuration example in which the input fiber 23 in FIG. 8) is removed and one input optical waveguide 45 including an input port optical waveguide 46 is newly arranged. Here, the difference from FIG. 8 is that the input port optical waveguide 46 is arranged just by a central angle θ in the half-hour direction from the input port optical waveguide 43. In this configuration example, by rotating the circular substrate θ in the clockwise direction, the optical signal from one common input fiber 21 is transmitted via the optical circuit A to the second output fiber 24. You can switch to . By developing this, a more lxN configuration example as shown in FIG. 12 is also possible as a tenth embodiment of the present invention. That is, as far as possible using the same method, the N input port optical waveguides are arranged counterclockwise from the input port optical waveguide 43 by α, α1αm, = “a, and In order to correspond to
a,,"・a, By arranging the common input fiber 21 in a staggered manner, it is also possible to switch the optical signal from one common input fiber 21 to N output fibers via the optical circuit A. In this case, normally There is no problem in the negative direction even if the spacing between the optical waveguides for each input port and the spacing between the output fibers are the same.Also, if the optical circuits B, C, etc., which are different from the optical circuit A on the board, are By arranging optical circuit A, optical circuit B, optical circuit C,
- and can be switched to independent output fibers at the same time. Furthermore, optical circuit A optical circuit B, optical circuit C...
If ・ has a bidirectional function, bidirectional switching is also possible. FIG. 13 shows an eleventh embodiment of the present invention, in which a Matsuhatsu Enda type optical switch utilizing thermo-optic effect is applied as the optical circuit A (51) of the ninth embodiment (FIG. 11) for the input port. This is a four-terminal circuit that performs light switching by passing current through the leading waveguide 43 and the thin film heater 9 and changing the optical path length in the output port optical waveguide 44, which is a known technique. In this example, port 43 → optical circuit A (51) → port 44 and port 46 → optical circuit A
(51)→Po) 50 have the same switching characteristics, the output fiber 24 and the output port optical waveguide 50 are connected to the input/output port optical waveguide 48 in the figure, so that the light from one common input fiber 21 is The signal can be switched to the second output fiber 24 via an optical switch using thermo-optic effects. In this way, in the present invention including the above configuration example, since the optical waveguide 48 for the input/output port is provided on the circular substrate at its central axis, the distance between the central axis and the end surface of the substrate is approximately constant, and the distance between the input/output fiber and the optical waveguide 48 is approximately constant. It has the great advantage of not having to match input and output ports each time it is moved, and the rotational movement distance required to switch one circular board is extremely small, on the order of tens of microns, and there is no crosstalk of -30dB or less. Another major feature is that it can be easily achieved. Note that optical circuit A or optical circuit B shown in the above configuration example
, optical circuit C, etc. include not only optical circuits with simple functions such as optical wiring and optical branching devices that simply guide and branch optical signals, but also optical circuits with simple functions such as optical multiplexers and demultiplexers, optical filters, etc. Waveguide type optical circuits consisting of one or more of all waveguide type optical functional components such as optical couplers, optical switches, optical amplifiers, etc., and waveguide type optical circuit groups in which these are organically combined and connected. Furthermore, it should be noted that an octabrid optical circuit may also be used.Also, instead of input/output fibers, individual optical components or parts of which are input/output optical waveguides may be used. It may be a combination of an input fiber and an output waveguide, or an input waveguide and an output fiber. In other words, any combination can be used as long as it can be matched to the input/output port optical waveguide placed near the outer periphery of the circular substrate and can be connected with low loss. It should be noted that the transmission path may also be used, and these additional contents are the same for all the configuration examples that follow. Next, as a second step, a case will be described in which two waveguide type optical circuits with different functions are formed at arbitrary locations on a circular substrate. FIG. 14 shows a configuration example in which a pair of input/output fibers is switched into a single-function optical circuit A and a single-function optical circuit B having different functions, as a twelfth embodiment of the present invention. 52
is optical circuit B, 47.49 is input/output optical waveguide and 48
．． Reference numeral 50 denotes an optical waveguide for input/output ports, and the other parts are the same as in the fifth embodiment (FIG. 7). Here, the input/output port optical waveguides 48 and 50 are each input/output port optical waveguide 4.
The difference from the fifth embodiment (FIG. 7) is that the output optical waveguides 42 and 49 intersect at the intersection point 7 because they are arranged at an angle θ in the counterclockwise direction of 3.44. Of course, the input/output port optical waveguides 48, 50 may be arranged clockwise with respect to the input/output port optical waveguides 43, 44 by an angle θl. 47 will intersect. In the case of this configuration example, such an intersection always exists at one location due to the characteristics of the rotation switching method. Furthermore, it is also possible to have a configuration such as the thirteenth embodiment shown in FIG. As the number increases, the number of intersections also increases. However, as mentioned above,
A major feature of the leading wavepath is that if the crossing angle is approximately 40° or more, the crossing loss is so small that it can be ignored (
(Refer to No. 211111), therefore, if the mask is designed so that the intersection angle is about 40' or more at the layout design stage of the guiding waveguide wiring, no troublesome interlayers will occur due to the intersection. This is a great advantage of the present invention, as it can be realized only with an optical transmission line such as an optical fiber. In the above configuration example, for example, the leading waveguide 43 for the input port in FIG. 48 and rotation axis 6. Or optical waveguide 44 for output port. 50 and rotating shaft 6
The expected angle θ. By rotating the circular board clockwise, it is possible to switch between two optical circuits with different functions using a pair of input/output fibers. FIG. 16 shows a configuration in which one input fiber and two output fibers are arranged as a fourteenth embodiment of the present invention, and switching to a single-function optical circuit Aj5 and a single-function optical circuit B having different functions is performed. This is an example. Alternatively, the ninth embodiment (first
It can also be considered as an example of a configuration in which Figure 1) is developed into two-circuit switching. Here, the input port optical waveguide 48 is arranged counterclockwise with respect to the input port optical waveguide 43 by an angle θ. With an example configuration like this,
Input port optical waveguide 43, 48 and rotating shaft 6. Or optical waveguide 44 for output port. By rotating the circular substrate clockwise by an angle θ defined by the output fiber 24 and the rotating shaft 6, two optical circuits A and B with different functions can be connected to one input fiber and two output fibers. You can switch with . Furthermore, Figure 17 shows that
As a fifteenth embodiment of the present invention, the fourteenth embodiment (FIG. 16) has four configurations. A-1, B-1, A-
2, 8-2, A-3, 8-3, A-4, and B-4 are each optical circuit, and the optical waveguide for the input/output port is formed by an almost straight arc, and the intersection angle near the center is is approximately 45°. In this way, two optical circuits with different functions and one
Four sets of optical circuits consisting of one input fiber and two output fibers can be switched simultaneously. FIG. 18 shows a configuration in which two input fibers and two output fibers are arranged and a single function circuit A and a single optical circuit B having different functions are cross-switched as a 16th embodiment of the present invention. This is an example. That is, by rotating the circular board by an angle θl in the clockwise direction, the connection state (through connection) is made as follows: input fiber 21 → optical circuit A → output fiber 22, and input fiber 23 - optical circuit 8 - output fiber 24. The connection state can be changed to input fiber 21 -> optical circuit A - output fiber 22 (cross connection). The simplest example of such an example is through-cross line switching as in the seventeenth embodiment shown in item 191g. By rotating the circular board clockwise through an angle θ, a through-cross connection can be made. This example is the first example (Fig. 1)
Although it has the same function as that of the embodiment, the switching angle can be made smaller than that of the same embodiment, and switching can be carried out in a short period of time. These can be applied to switches that need to simultaneously secure a detour in the event of a line failure and monitor the failed line. Also, as in the case of the first step, by arranging optical circuits B, C, etc., which have exactly the same configuration as these but are different from optical circuit A, in the blank area on the board, optical circuit A, optical circuit C, etc. It is also possible to simultaneously switch the optical circuits B, C, . . . to independent output fibers. Furthermore, if the optical circuit A, optical circuit B, optical circuit C, etc. have a bidirectional function, bidirectional switching is also possible. Although various configuration examples have been described so far, a wide variety of configurations are possible by combining these configuration examples in a complicated manner. The present invention is not limited to the above configuration examples, but is intended to cover all configurations obtained by combining them. In short, it targets all optical switching devices that switch and connect optical signals to optical lines by rotating and moving a circular substrate on which a waveguide-type optical functional component is formed or mounted using a remote control rotation drive system. It is. Next, as a third step, an example of a configuration that is a further development of the configuration described above will be described. FIG. 20 is a perspective view illustrating an 18th embodiment of the present invention. After the various optical circuit groups and input/output optical waveguides that have been explained so far are formed in one layer on a circular silicon substrate, new various optical circuit groups are created on top of them using the same path fabrication process. Then, form input optical waveguides in -layers. By continuously repeating this process, it is possible to arrange the same or different waveguide type optical circuit groups (optical circuits A-Z) in a multilayer structure on one silicon substrate. Furthermore, according to the needs of each layer (L.-L.), one or more pairs of input/output fibers 25-1 to 2 to 6-... or input guide waveguides are connected to optical waveguides for input/output ports in the multilayer structure. By opposing them, it is possible to realize an optical switch with even higher density. FIG. 21 is a perspective view illustrating a nineteenth embodiment of the present invention. A plurality of circular silicon substrates IA-IN on which the various optical circuit groups and input/output optical waveguides described above are formed in one layer are stacked so that their rotational axes are aligned, and then glued and integrated. . Furthermore, one or more pairs of input/output fibers 25-1 to 2 to 4- are provided as required for each layer.
...or an extremely high-density optical switch can be realized by arranging the input waveguide to oppose the input/output port optical waveguide in the multilayer structure. [Effects of the Invention J As explained above, according to the present invention, a plurality of various waveguide-type optical functional devices can be used in all fields including optical communication, optical information processing, etc., including relay systems and subscriber systems. The flat circular board formed and mounted on the full sea urchin can be switched to multiple input/output fibers with extremely low crosstalk, making it possible to create a rotary rotary that is small, low loss, low cost, has excellent long-term reliability, and is extremely versatile. It has the advantage of providing a type optical switch.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1(a) is a plan view illustrating a first embodiment of the optical switch of the present invention, and FIG. 1(b) is a sectional view illustrating the first embodiment of the optical switch of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a characteristic diagram showing the dependence of loss on crossing angle. Figure 3 is a diagram showing the principle of an ultrasonic motor, Figure 4 (a)
is a plan view illustrating the second embodiment of the optical switch of the present invention, FIG. 4(b) is a sectional view illustrating the second embodiment of the optical switch of the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 6 is a partial plan view of the fourth embodiment of the invention; FIG. 7 is a partial plan view of the fifth embodiment of the invention; FIG. 8 is a partial plan view of the fifth embodiment of the invention. FIG. 9 is a partial plan view of the seventh embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1θ is a partial plan view of the sixth embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 11 is a partial plan view of the ninth embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 12 is a partial plan view of the tenth embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 13 is a partial plan view of the tenth embodiment of the present invention. 14 is a partial plan view of the 12th embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 15 is a partial plan view of the 13th embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 16 is a partial plan view of the 13th embodiment of the present invention. Partial plan view of the 14th embodiment, 17th
18 is a partial plan view of the 16th embodiment of the invention, and FIG. 19 is a partial plan view of the 17th embodiment of the invention. FIG. 20 is a perspective view of the 18th embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 21 is a perspective view of the 19th embodiment of the present invention.
A perspective view of the embodiment, FIG. 22 is a diagram showing a first configuration example of the prior art, FIG. 23 is a diagram showing a second configuration example of the prior art,
24 is a diagram showing a third configuration example of the prior art, FIG. 25 is a diagram showing a fourth configuration example of the prior art, FIG. 26 is a diagram showing a fifth configuration example of the prior art, and FIG. The figure shows a sixth configuration example of the prior art. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Circular silicon substrate, 5... Optical waveguide arrangement area for input/output ports, 6... Substrate rotation axis, 7... Crossing waveguide, 8... Unidirectional coupler, 9... Thin film Heater, 11--Support stand, 12--Silicon substrate, 13.14.15.16--Optical waveguide, 17--One rotation axis. 18, 19.20.21, 22.23.24... Input/output optical fiber. 22A...V groove for fixing optical fiber. 23A...Ferrule for optical fiber protection, 24A.-
- Mechanism for fine adjustment of optical axis, 25...Mechanism for fine adjustment of stopper, 26.27--Stopper for positioning, 28--Support for ultrasonic motor, 29.30--Piezoelectric element, 31--Elastic body, 3. Detailed description of the invention 33--Piezoelectric element supply power source, 34--Preload nut, 35--Spring, 38--Ultrasonic motor for rotational positioning, 39 ...Ultrasonic motor for height positioning, 41, 42.45.47.
49--Input/output optical waveguide, 43, 44.46.48
．． 50--Optical waveguide for input/output port, 51, 52.5
3-...Optical circuits A, B, C. 401. ．． ．． Support stand. 402-... Stage for mounting ultrasonic motor, 403-...
・Rotor of ultrasonic motor, 404--Silicon substrate, 405--Stopper for rotational positioning, 406A, 4
06B, 4Of+C...Micrometer for stage support, 407A, 407B--Micrometer for rotational positioning, 408.409--Member for mounting optical fiber, 4
10. O-ring. 11A, 411B, 411C, 411D --- Butt adjustment screws. 412A, 412B, 412C, 4120--V groove for mounting optical fiber. 413 Todoroki, 413B, 413C, 4130--Zirconia Fell-J, 414A, 414B, 414C, 4
14D--optical fiber.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1) The shape of the substrate is approximately perfect circle, and on the substrate there is provided a waveguide type optical circuit which is switched and connected to one or more pairs of input/output fibers or input/output waveguides facing each other around the substrate. Alternatively, a waveguide type optical circuit group is formed, and at least one input/output waveguide port is provided near the periphery of the circular substrate so as to be substantially perpendicular to the outer periphery of the substrate, A rotary type optical switching device, further comprising a drive system that rotates the circular substrate by a desired rotation angle and stops the circular substrate. 2) A group of identical or different waveguide type optical circuits are arranged in a multilayer structure on the circular substrate, and each layer has one or more pairs of input/output fibers or input/output waveguides facing each other. The optical switching device according to claim 1. 3) A plurality of the circular substrates on which the waveguide-type optical circuit group is formed for each layer are bonded and integrated in a laminated manner, and each layer has one or more pairs of input/output fibers or input/output waveguides facing each other. The optical switching device according to claim 1, characterized in that: 4) Each of the plurality of optical fiber holding means has a ceramic ferrule for polishing the end face of the core wire of the input/output optical fiber and protecting it during mounting, and 4. The rotary optical switch according to claim 1, further comprising an adjustment mechanism for aligning optical axes.