High reliability fiber coupled optical switch

The present invention relates to a high reliability fiber coupled switch. In particular, the present invention relates to a fused coupler optical switch (FCOS) that functions as a bidirectional optical cross-bar switch. The switch uses a magnetic field to bend the coupled region to switch between cross and bar states. The strain resulting from such bending causes the coupled fibers to lie along different bend radii resulting in a variable power coupling ratio. A fused coupler optical switch (FCOS) of the present invention is an electrically switchable device that functions as a latching bi-directional optical cross bar switch with a first and a fourth optical ports at a first end, and, a second and third ports at a second end of the coupler, where a magnetic sleeve surrounds the second end of the coupler. A first stop block maintains the coupler in a first mechanical position and a second stop block maintains the coupler in a second mechanical position, where the first and second stop blocks are V-grooved stop blocks. In the first position, the first port is optically connected with the third port and the fourth port is connected with the second port. In the second position, the first port is optically connected with the second port and the fourth port is connected with the third port. The inventive optical switch may include a sensor element such as a Hall element for detecting the state of the optical switch.