A monolithically integrated photonic MEMS subsystem for optical network applications

A single-chip photonic subsystem with a dimension of 3.5 mm × 3 mm × 0.6 mm is developed by integration of a tunable laser with an optical switch using the microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology. The potential of the subsystem is also discussed for the niche applications in the reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexers and the wavelength converters. The subsystem has a tuning speed of <1 ms between different wavelength channels within a range of 13.5 nm by stepwise tuning, and a switching time of <100 μs between different light paths, which are much faster than the conventional mechanical devices. The output power is about 1 mW. In addition to the compact size and fast tuning speed, the MEMS integration also brings in other advantages such as more functionality, high reliability, batch fabrication and low cost. More significantly, the prototype demonstrates the MEMS integration successfully. This is to our knowledge the first realization of a single-chip MEMS subsystem by integrating different functional MEMS components.