摘要 |
Disclosed herein is an optical switch including a plurality of switch cells arranged in the form of an nxn matrix (n is an integer), each switch cell having first and second input ends and first and second output ends, and 2(n-1) reflection cells. The plural switch cells are selectively driven so that one of the first and second input ends of the switch cells in the first column is optically connected to one of the first and second output ends of the switch cells in the n-th column. (n-1) ones of the 2(n-1) reflection cells are arranged so as to optically connect the first output end of the switch cell in the first row, the i-th column (i is an integer satisfying 1<=i<=(n-1)) to the first input end of the switch cell in the first row, the (i+1)-th column. The remaining (n-1) reflection cells are arranged so as to optically connect the second output end of the switch cell in the n-th row, the j-th column (j is an integer satisfying 1<=j<=(n-1)) to the second input end of the switch cell in the n-th row, the (j+1)-th column. This optical switch is suitable for size reduction and can eliminate the path dependence of loss.
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