An optical switch (10) in accordance with the present invention includes
a first PBS (101), a second PBS (104), two reflective elements (102,
105) and two liquid crystal elements (103, 106). The first PBS splits
input light into two polarized beams, said two beams being orthogonally polarized
with respect to each other. The two beams each respectively pass through a different
liquid crystal element and a reflective element. The polarization state of the
passed beams can be controlled by the electrified or unelectrified state of the
liquid crystal elements. The two beams are combined into one output beam by the
second PBS, and are outputted from a selected output port (13, 14) depending
on the state of electrification of the liquid crystal elements.
