MEMS for optical switching: technologies, applications, and perspectives

Lih-Y. Lin; Evan L. Goldstein

doi:10.1117/12.361075

28 September 1999 MEMS for optical switching: technologies, applications, and perspectives

Lih-Y. Lin, Evan L. Goldstein

Proceedings Volume 10295, Reliability of Optical Fibers and Optical Fiber Systems: A Critical Review; 102950E (1999) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.361075
Event: Photonics East '99, 1999, Boston, MA, United States

Abstract

Micro-electro-mechanical-systems (MEMS), due to their unique ability to integrate electrical, mechanical, and optical elements on a single chip, have recently begun to exhibit great potential for realizing optical components and subsystems in compact, lowcost form. Recently, this technology has been applied to wavelength-division-multiplexed (WDM) networks, and resulted in advances in several network elements, including switches, filters, modulators, and wavelength-add/drop multiplexers. Due largely to the exploding capacity demand arising from data traffic, the transmission capacity demanded of and available from WDM networks is anticipated to increase rapidly. For managing such networks, optical switching is of particular interest due to the fact that its complexity is essentially immune to steady advances in the per-channel bit-rate. We will review various micromachined optical-switching technologies, emphasizing studies of their reliability. We then summarizing recent progress in the free-space MEMS optical switch we have demonstrated.

Citation Download Citation

Lih-Y. Lin and Evan L. Goldstein "MEMS for optical switching: technologies, applications, and perspectives", Proc. SPIE 10295, Reliability of Optical Fibers and Optical Fiber Systems: A Critical Review, 102950E (28 September 1999); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.361075

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