Optical add and drop multiplexer using on-chip integration of planar light circuits and optical microelectromechanical system switching

Abstract

On-chip integration of optical switches and planar light circuits (PLCs) can greatly reduce the size, manufacturing cost, and operating cost of multicomponent optical systems. A silicon-on-insulator platform for integrating microelectromechanical system (MEMS) latching optical waveguide switches with PLCs is presented including a working example of chip scale integration of reconfigurable-optical add/drop multiplexer and λ-Routers, along with details of the integrated latching MEMS optical switches.