Micromachined optical-switching technologies for WDM networks

Micro-electro-mechanical-systems (MEMS) technology, with its unique ability to integrate electrical, mechanical, and optical elements on a single chip, has demonstrated high potential for realizing optical components and systems in compact and low-cost form. Recently, this technology has been applied to wavelength-division-multiplexed (WDM) networks For future WDM networks with enormous transmission capacity, optical switching is of particular interest due to its transparency to steady advances in the per-channel bit-rate. In this paper, we will review various micromachined optical switching technologies, focusing on the free-space MEMS optical switch we have demonstrated.