Vast amounts of data transmit across the Internet and telecommunications networks delivering, for example, real-time video calls from one cell phone to another – across the world. As people send and receive increasing amounts of data like ultra-high definition (4K, 8K) images over these largely optical fiber-based networks, and the demand for such increases, so too does the need for new technologies to transmit that data at enhanced speeds, with increased energy efficiency, and at lower cost. A promising way to do that is by using optical switches that relay signals carried by optical fibers from one circuit to another. One new technology in particular now offers significant improvement to the optical switches used by fiber optic networks.