Novel Multifunctional Device for Optical Power Splitting, Switching, and Attenuating

This letter presents a novel microelectromechanical system multifunction-integrated optical device capable of simultaneously operating as a variable optical power splitter (VOPS), optical switch (OS), and variable optical attenuator (VOA). Assembling with ball-lensed fibers, the device manipulates the light with a binary-slope mirror driven by compound electrostatic actuator. Measurements have revealed that the excess loss is less than 3 dB (VOPS state), the switching time is less than 9 ms (OS state), and the controllable attenuation range is up to 39 dB (VOA state). Moreover, excellent polarization-dependent loss performance is achieved.