Micro-opto-mechanical switching and tuning for integrated optical systems

Integrated optical circuits have the potential to lower manufacturing and operating costs and enhance the functionality of optical systems in a manner similar to what has been achieved by integrating electronic circuits. One of the basic optical elements required to enable integrated optical circuits is an integrated optical switch, analogous to transistor switches used in integrated electronic circuits. An ideal switch for integrated optical circuits would provide wavelength-selective switching. Wavelength- selective behavior is an important characteristic for devices intended for networking applications as wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) of optical signals has become the accepted standard. A major contribution of this thesis is the design, fabrication, and experimental demonstration of a wavelength-selective, integrated optical switch. This switch operates by combining a microring resonator filter with a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) device that allows the normally static ring resonator filter to be switched on and off. This represents the first demonstration of a wavelength-selective integrated optical MEMS switch. Additional contributions of this work include a new study of dielectric charging, analysis of the use of titanium nitride as structural material for MEMS, two new MEMS actuation techniques that lead to higher speed and/or lower actuation volt- age, and a feasibility analysis for wavelength tuning using a generalized version of the switch design. A model for the evolution of dielectric charging during the actuation of MEMS devices was developed to address a deviation of the experimentally fabricated devices from the theoretical predictions according to older models.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2004

Author dc:creator

• Nielson, Gregory Nolan, 1974-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• George Barbastathis.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/30332

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/30332