A 1.5 Mb/s operation of a MARS device for communications systems applications

Author

Walker, James A. ; Goossen, Keith W. ; Arney, Susanne C. ; Frigo, N.J. ; Iannone, P.P.

Author_Institution

Lucent Technol., Holmdel, NJ, USA

Volume

14

Issue

10

fYear

1996

fDate

10/1/1996 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

2382

Lastpage

2386

Abstract

We present the fabrication and performance of a Si MARS (mechanical antireflection switch) micromechanical optical modulator for fiber-in-the-loop applications. Device performance is reported showing rise and fall times of less than 100 ns, greater than 10 dB optical contrast ratio at ambient temperatures from -50 to 90°C, and evidence of reliability exhibited in operation at 500 kHz for over two months (two trillion cycles) without noticeable loss in performance. Bit error rate measurements show potential performance at 1.5 Mb/s with a 10 ^-9 bit error rate. Emphasis is placed on our efforts to produce a device which is practical, robust, and inexpensive to manufacture and package

Keywords

electro-optical modulation; electro-optical switches; micromechanical devices; optical communication equipment; optical fabrication; optical fibre subscriber loops; optical losses; semiconductor device packaging; semiconductor device reliability; silicon; -50 to 90 C; 1.5 Mbit/s; 100 ns; MARS device; Mb/s operation; ambient temperatures; bit error rate measurements; communications systems applications; dB optical contrast ratio; device performance; fiber-in-the-loop applications; manufacture; mechanical antireflection switch; micromechanical optical modulator; package; reliability; rise and fall times; robust; Bit error rate; Communication switching; Mars; Micromechanical devices; Optical device fabrication; Optical devices; Optical fiber subscriber loops; Optical modulation; Optical switches; Performance loss;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Lightwave Technology, Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0733-8724

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/50.541233

Filename

541233