R. Ruel

A silicon MEMS optical switch attenuator and its use in lightwave subsystems

A single-mode fiber connectorized microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) reflective optical switch attenuator operating in the 1550-nm wavelength region is described. The device consists of an electrostatically actuated gold-coated silicon vane interposed in a fiber gap yielding 0.81-dB minimum insertion loss in the transmit state and high transmission isolation in the reflection state with 2.15-dB minimum return loss. The switch attenuators also work as continuously variable optical attenuators capable of greater than 50-dB dynamic range and can be accurately regulated with a simple feedback control circuit. Switching voltages were in the range of 5-40 V and a switching time of 64 /spl mu/s was achieved. The MEMS switch can be used in optical subsystems within a wavelength-division-multiplexed (WDM) optical network such as optical power regulators, crossconnects, and add/drop multiplexers. We used a discrete array of 16 switch attenuators to implement a reconfigurable 16-channel 100-GHz spacing WDM drop module of an add/drop multiplexer. Thru-channel extinction was greater than 40 dB and average insertion loss was 21 dB. Both drop-and-transmit of multiple channels (11-18-dB contrast, 14-19-dB insertion loss) and drop-and-detect of single channels (>20-dB adjacent channel rejection, 10-14-dB insertion loss) were demonstrated.

A fiber connectorized MEMS variable optical attenuator

A voltage-controlled moving-mirror microelectro-mechanical systems variable optical attenuator is described that has less than 1-dB fiber-to-fiber insertion loss at 1550-nm wavelength and greater than 50-dB dynamic range. The device was configured with a simple feedback circuit to operate as an optical power regulator capable of stabilizing the output power to within 0.26 dB for a 12-dB input power excursion.

1296-port MEMS transparent optical crossconnect with 2.07 petabit/s switch capacity

A 1296-port MEMS transparent optical crossconnect with 5.1dB/spl plusmn/1.1dB insertion loss at 1550 nm is reported. Measured worst-case optical crosstalk in a fabric was n38 dB and nominal switching rise/fall times were 5 ms. A 2.07 petabit/s switch capacity was verified upon cross-connecting a forty-channel by 40 Gb/s DWDM data stream through a prototype fabric.

Reconfigurable 16-channel WDM drop module using silicon MEMS optical switches

A reconfigurable 16-channel 100-GHz spacing wavelength-division-multiplexed drop module for use at 1550 nm was demonstrated using silicon microelectromechanical system (MEMS) optical switches and arrayed waveguide grating routers. Through-channel extinction was greater than 40 dB and average insertion loss was 21 dB, Both drop-and-retransmit of multiple channels (11-18 dB contrast, 14-19-dB insertion loss) and drop-and-detect of single channels (>20-dB adjacent channel rejection, 10-14-dB insertion loss) were implemented.

Low-loss channelized WDM spectral equalizer using lightwave micromachines and autonomous power regulation

A 16-channel 100-GHz spacing WDM spectral equalizer having athermal grating multiplexer/demultiplexers and MEMS variable attenuators was demonstrated with <9.1 dB excess loss, >50 dB dynamic range and autonomous power regulation using self-powered optical limiters incorporating InGaAs photogenerators.

Enhanced sensitivity in WDM optical monitoring using a MARS optical chopper

A MARS optical chopper is implemented with lock-in detection to enhance the sensitivity of a 1550-nm band wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) optical monitor and improve its immunity of 1/f noise and dc drift. The high chopping rate, 1.02 MHz, it ideally suited for rapid-scanning optical monitors, allowing <100 /spl mu/s filter time constants for high-rate data acquisition.