光开关是实现多光路电子切换器件的重要组成元件。提出一种基于液体棱镜的光开关，该光开关由一个液体棱镜与一个双孔挡光板组成。初始状态下，液-液界面为凸面形状,入射光经过液体棱镜后会聚到挡光板中央，被挡光板阻挡反射吸收，表现为光关状态。当把电压施加在液体棱镜单侧时，为光开状态。并且当在两侧同时施加电压时，液-液界面形变为凹面形状，入射光束发生发散，此时表现为同时光开状态。实验结果表明，该器件在自适应液体光开关中具有较快的响应时间(上升时间：~85 ms；下降时间：~140 ms)以及较高的光衰减度(~965∶1)特性。提出的光开关在光阀、可调光衰减器以及光路由器等方面有着潜在的应用价值。

Optical switch is an important part of a multi-path electronic switch. We propose an optical switch based on a liquid prism. The device consists of a liquid prism and a non-transparent diaphragm with two holes. In initial state, the liquid-liquid surface shows a shape of the positive lens, the incident light can be focused through the liquid cell and then be blocked by the aperture slot. At this time, the device shows light-off state. When a voltage is applied to one side of the liquid prism, the device shows light-on state. Meanwhile, when voltage is applied to both sides of the sidewall electrodes, the liquid-liquid surface presents the shape of a negative lens and the incident light divergence occurs. At this time, the device expresses the both light- on state. Our experiments show that the proposed device has faster response time (rise time: ~85 ms; fall time: ~140 ms) and higher optical attenuation (~965:1) in adaptive liquid optical switches. The device has potential application in light shutters, variable optical attenuators and optical routers.