Best solid state optical switch technology defined for space

A TDE activity, with Alter Technology and the Technical University of Madrid, has demonstrated how solid-state fibre optic switches could improve a variety of space applications.Get more news about Solid State Optical Switch,you can vist our website!

Commercial, off-the-shelf solid-state optical switching technology exists in many forms already, since it is used in terrestrial markets like telecoms or optical sensing. But a comprehensive investigation to truly understand the specific challenges and benefits of adapting these technologies for space has never been fully conducted, until now.

The activity first defined the most suitable technology for future satellite payloads before designing the roadmap to qualify the technology for space.

Optical switching is a generic building block for many optical systems and has been proposed in a wide variety of future space applications, from building in simple redundancy to providing fast isolation or modulation of the optical intensity. Solid state switching greatly improves the reliability of existing optical switch technology when compared with bulky mechanical switching systems. It is also able to provide faster switching speeds, which is required in some optical switching applications.

The experts reviewed six different possible technologies: Bulk Electro-optic (BEO), Waveguide Electro-optic (WG-EO), Magneto-optic (MO), Acousto-optic (AO) and Thermo-optic (TO). These were then put through extensive testing, including thermal vacuum cycles, mechanical tests (vibration and shocks) and radiation testing.

They considered how they might be used in a variety of applications, from CO2-detecting lidar and atom sensors to optical sensing and laser interferometry.

Both Bulk Electro-Optics and Magneto Optics technologies emerged as the best candidates for space applications. They responded well under typical space conditions and met the technical requirements for most of the applications considered.

Overall, the team found that Bulk Electro-Optics are preferable for applications requiring high switching speeds with a fast response time – in the order of nanoseconds instead of microseconds – but Magneto Optics are recommended for applications where signals could interfere with each other.