MOEMS - Enabling technologies for large optical cross-connects

Rapid growth in demand for optical network capacity and the sudden maturation of wavelength-division-multiplexing (WDM) technologies have led to development of long-haul optical network systems that transport tens to hundreds of wavelengths per fiber, with each wavelength modulated at 10 Gb/s or more. Micro-optical-electromechanical systems (MOEMS) devices, such as mirrors and lenses, are found to be the enabling technologies to build the next-generation cost-effective and reliable large port-count optical cross-connects (OXCs). While the basic roles of these MOEMS devices in an optical cross-connect are easily understood, the detailed mechanical design, electronics integration, packaging, control, and usage of these devices must reflect the stringent system requirements of the optical design and the electronic hardware of the network switch element. Due to the inter-dependence of many design parameters, manufacturing tolerances, and performance requirements, careful tradeoffs must be made to create reliable and manufacturable MOEMS devices. We describe various design tradeoffs and multi-disciplinary system considerations for building MOEMS-based large OXCs.