Piezoelectric actuators can be used to move microoptical components, such as optical fibers and microprisms of these components. This application is not only for laboratory adjustment of these components, but also for the creation of special products in the field of optical communication, optical
data storage and metrology.
On the base of the combination of piezoelectric actuators with different microoptical components piezosystem jena has already developed a broad spectrum of systems for different applications:
1 x N switches for singlemode fibers for optical communication, data storage, optical measurements
1 x N switches for multimode fibers for optical measurements (especially spectroscopy) and multi-point sensor systems
Variable optical attenuators for optical communication
Custom made solutions

Piezoelectrically driven switches and modulators have several inherent advantages compared to other electromechanically driven systems:
High switching speed - down to submillisecond region
Compactness and stability, low power consumption
Excellent optical parameters

The best way for the switching optical fibers is the direct movement of the optical fibers with respect to each other. Piezoelectric actuators are ideal candidates for this purpose due to their typical movement ranges and actuation speed. In order to exclude the influences of hysteresis and creep on the accuracy of such a switch, the actuator end positions can be fixed by special stopping configurations.
In the case of multimode fibers, the required accuracy (10 microns or more depending on the fiber core diameter) can be achieved by different approaches of precision engineering. For singlemode fibers, however, this approach is not very appropriate.