Beam-stabilized optical switch using a voice-coil motor actuator

This paper presents the design, analysis, and implementation of a beam-stabilized optical switch using a voice-coil motor actuator. A closed-loop control system using a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller is developed to stabilize the beam at the desired angle to maximize the optical power detected by a photodiode. Experimental results show a good performance with 17 ms switching speed and a maximum overshoot of only 3%.