Nanomechanical optical fiber with embedded electrodes actuated by joule heating

Abstract

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.

More information

Identifiers

ORCID for Nina Podoliak: orcid.org/0000-0002-3146-0355

ORCID for Peter Horak: orcid.org/0000-0002-8710-8764

Catalogue record

Export record

Altmetrics