Title :
MEMS optical switches
Author :
Fan, Li ; Husain, A. ; Dobblelaere, P.D. ; Gloeckner, S. ; Patra, S. ; Gutierrez, S. ; Marchand, P. ; King, C. ; Yeh, T. ; Loke, Y. ; Hartman, J. ; Gritters, J.
Author_Institution :
OMM Inc., San Diego, CA, USA
Abstract :
Summary form only given. Optical cross-connects is set to become the building blocks of future fiber networks (Toshiyoshi et al., 1996; Hill et al., 1993; Lin et al., 1998; Liu et al., 2000). This migration will enable routing and restoration at the photonic level, and eliminate costly electrical conversions. Optical switches based upon tiny MEMS mirrors to steer the light beam, promise tremendous cost saving and bandwidth over traditional cross-connects. The ability to mass-produce MEMS-based modules will become a critical skill and market differentiator in the near future
Keywords :
micro-optics; micromechanical devices; mirrors; optical communication equipment; optical fibre networks; optical switches; telecommunication network routing; MEMS mirrors; MEMS optical switches; building blocks; cost saving; cross-connects; electrical conversion cost; fiber networks; light beam steering; mass-produced MEMS-based modules; optical cross-connects; optical switches; photonic level restoration; photonic level routing; Electric shock; Insertion loss; Micromechanical devices; Mirrors; Optical fiber networks; Optical films; Optical losses; Optical switches; Page description languages; Testing;
Conference_Titel :
Lasers and Electro-Optics Society, 2001. LEOS 2001. The 14th Annual Meeting of the IEEE
Conference_Location :
San Diego, CA
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-7105-4
DOI :
10.1109/LEOS.2001.969147
