Nanomechanical Optical Fiber with Embedded Electrodes Actuated by Joule Heating

Materials

Zhenggang Lian¹  Martha Segura¹  Nina Podoliak¹  Xian Feng²  Nicholas White² 

[1] Optoelectronics Research Centre, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK;

关键词: micro-structured optical fibers;    optical fiber sensors;    all-optical fiber devices;    optical switching;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ma7085591

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Nanomechanical optical fibers with metal electrodes embedded in the jacket were fabricated by a multi-material co-draw technique. At the center of the fibers, two glass cores suspended by thin membranes and surrounded by air form a directional coupler that is highly temperature-dependent. We demonstrate optical switching between the two fiber cores by Joule heating of the electrodes with as little as 0.4 W electrical power, thereby demonstrating an electrically actuated all-fiber microelectromechanical system (MEMS). Simulations show that the main mechanism for optical switching is the transverse thermal expansion of the fiber structure.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.