Micromechanical Photonic Integrated Circuits

Ming C. WU   Li FAN   Guo-Dong SU   

Publication
IEICE TRANSACTIONS on Electronics   Vol.E83-C   No.6   pp.903-911
Publication Date: 2000/06/25
Online ISSN: 
Print ISSN: 0916-8516
Type of Manuscript: INVITED PAPER (Special Issue on Advanced Optical Devices for Next Generation High-Speed Communication Systems and Photonic Networks)
Category: Switches and Novel Devices
Keyword: 
MEMS ,  optical MEMS ,  MOEMS ,  photonic integrated circuits ,  micro-optics ,  optical interconnect ,  

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Summary: 
We report on a novel micromechanical photonic integrated circuits (PIC) for integrating free-space optical systems on a chip. Using polysilicon surface-micromachining technique, micro-optical elements, three-dimensional optomechanical structures, and microactuators are monolithically integrated on silicon substrate. We will discuss the basic building blocks of the micromechanical PIC, including XYZ micropositioners, 2-axis tilting micromirrors, scanning microlenses, and their integration with vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers. We will also discuss their applications in reconfigurable optical interconnect and active alignment in parallel free-space optical interconnect systems.