An overview of micromachining for optical communications

There have been increasing interest in applying micromachining technologies to optical and optoelectronic systems. Despite the rapid advances of optoelectronic materials, optomechanical systems and mechanical actuation are still indispensable components in many optical systems such as those for switching and packaging applications. The marriage of micro-optics and micromachining technologies has created a new family of optomechanical devices that cannot be realized by conventional technologies, and has opened up many new opportunities. We review the state-of-the-art of the optical MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical-system) technologies around the world, and report on the recent progress of the free-space microoptical bench (FSMOB) project at UCLA