MEMS technology for optical networking applications

Author

Neukermans, Armand ; Ramaswami, Rajiv

Author_Institution

Nortel Networks

Volume

39

Issue

1

fYear

2001

fDate

1/1/2001 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

62

Lastpage

69

Abstract

The explosion of the Internet has brought about an acute need for broadband communications, which can only be filled with optical networking. This in turn has resulted in an unprecedented interest in optical micro-electromechanical systems. Since the early days of fiber optics, it has been recognized that micro-optics was a fertile ground for the applications of MEMS. MEMS-based products offer substantial cost and performance advantages for optical networking applications in the area of switching fabrics, variable attenuators, tunable lasers, and other devices. This article provides a review of various types of MEMS technologies for optical networking applications

Keywords

attenuators; micromechanical devices; optical communication equipment; optical fabrication; optical fibre networks; optical switches; semiconductor lasers; semiconductor switches; Internet; MEMS technology; MEMS-based products; broadband communications; fiber optics; micro-optics; optical micro-electromechanical systems; optical networking applications; switching fabrics; tunable lasers; variable attenuators; Broadband communication; Costs; Explosions; IP networks; Microelectromechanical systems; Micromechanical devices; Optical attenuators; Optical devices; Optical fiber networks; Optical fibers;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Communications Magazine, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0163-6804

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/35.894378

Filename

894378