1 Ã\x97 n optical fibre switch

A variety of techniques to realise optical fibre switching using multimode fibres have been reported in the literature. Most of these techniques, however, either exhibit high insertion losses or are limited in switching configurations to 1 × 2 or 2 × 2 structures. In the letter we report a mechanical 1 × 8 optical fibre switch with maximum insertion losses of 1 dB with 50 ¿m-core fibres. The switching technique described is suitable for expansion into larger 1 × n configurations.