Novel optic-fiber switches based on the wobble-type MEMS electromagnetic microactuator

Some novel optic-fiber switches based on an MEMS electromagnetic microactuator are developed in this paper and their design, fabrication and performance are described. A new kind of wobble-type MEMS electromagnetic microactuator is successfully developed, which can drive mirrors to enter or leave the optical path of a switch. It is layered, composed of two stators and one wobble disc, which improve the output torque of the actuator. Finally, 1×2, 2×2, 1×4 and 1×8 single mode optic-fiber switches, which have been fabricated, are measured. The operating voltage is less than 8 V, switching time is less than 5 ms, insertion loss is less than 0.8 dB, crosstalk is 60 dB, and extinction ratio is 60 dB. These optic-fiber switches show a promising future in optical fiber communication systems.     

A comprehensive study of MEMS behavior under EOS/ESD events: Breakdown characterization,dielectric charging,and realistic cures

The breakdown characterization of both out- and in-plane electrostatically actuated RF–MEMS switches with air-gaps from 1.0 to 6.7 μm was studied. The emitted electromagnetic field during the testing was analyzed, in order to have an indication of the air-breakdown occurrence. Furthermore, we studied the effect of TLP and HBM events on the dielectric charging of tested MEMS, furnishing the experimental evidence that ESD events should not be responsible of this important reliability problem for MEMS, and that ESD tester parasitic elements can influence the MEMS electromechanical behavior characterization. Finally, a simple, but effective, varistor based protection structure was explored.     

Carbon-Based Materials: Growth,Properties, MEMS/NEMS Technologies,and MEM/NEM Switches

Micro- or nanoelectromechanical system (MEMS/NEMS) is a multidisciplinary field, which has witnessed explosive growth during the past decades. The current materials for MEMS are dominated by Si thanks to the fully based technology for CMOS. However, Si has its own intrinsic limitations such as poor mechanical or tribological properties and poor thermal stability. Carbon-based materials such as diamond, carbon nanotube, and graphene possess excellent properties such as low mass, high Young's modulus, high thermal conductivity, hydrophobic surface, and tailorable electronic configuration, which make these materials promising for MEMS/NEMS applications with diverse and much better performance than Si. In this review, we describe the recent progress of carbon-based materials for MEMS/NEMS with focus on diamond, carbon nanotube, and graphene. The growth of these carbon materials is briefly described and only selected properties are discussed with respect to MEMS/NEMS applications. The fabrication process for suspended structures of these materials toward MEMS/NEMS is comprehensively reviewed from the recent literatures. Special attention is devoted to the state-of-the-art of MEM/NEM switches based on these carbon materials, one of the most important fields in MEMS/NEMS. Finally, the application of carbon-based MEM/NEM switches to microwave field is critically analyzed.     

用双稳开关实现光学时分复用的方法

提出一种用全光学开关构成时分复用系统的方法,并用ZnS干涉滤光片双稳开关进行了实验演示.如果采用高速开关进行替代,可望用于光通信与光计算系统,提高信息的传输速度.     

A novel low-loss four-bit bandpass filter using RF MEMS switches

This paper details the design and simulation of a novel low-loss four-bit reconfigurable bandpass filter that integrates microelectromechanical system(MEMS)switches and comb resonators.A T-shaped reconfigurable resonator is reconfigured in a'one resonator,multiple MEMS switches'configuration and used to gate the load capacitances of comb resonators so that a multiple-frequency filtering function is realized within the 7-16 GHz frequency range.In addition,the insertion loss of the filter is less than 1.99 dB,the out-of-band rejection is more than 18.30 dB,and the group delay is less than 0.25 ns.On the other hand,the size of this novel filter is only 4.4 mm×2.5 mm×0.4 mm.Our results indicate that this MEMS reconfigurable filter,which can switch 16 central frequency bands through eight switches,achieves a low insertion loss compared to those of traditional MEMS filters.In addition,the advantages of small size are obtained while achieving high integration.     

Study on a MEMS silicon-based non-silicon mirror for an optical switch

A micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) silicon-based non-silicon mirror for a 2D optical switch is designed, fabricated and measured. The result shows that the mirror has good reflective performance. And driven by static electricity, it can rotate more than 10° at voltage less than 15 V. This kind of novel mirror will have good potential applications for MEMS optical switches.     

Electro-Optic Polymer Integrated Optic Devices and Future Applications

Recent developments in electro-optic polymer materials and devices have led to new opportunities for integrated optic devices in numerous applications. The results of numerous tests have indicated that polymer materials have many properties that are suitable for use in high-speed communications systems, various sensor systems, and space applications. These results, coupled with recent advances in device and material technology, will allow very large bandwidth modulators and switches with low drive voltages, improved loss, long-term stability, and integration with other microelectronic devices such as MEMS. Low drive voltage devices are very important for space applications where power consumption scales as the square of the modulator half-wave voltage. In addition, we have demonstrated novel dual polymer modulators for mixing RF signals to produce sum and difference frequency modulation on an optical beam. This novel approach allows the suppression of the modulation at the two input RF signals, and only the mixing signals remain superposed on the optical beam. The dual modulator can be used for various encoding/decoding and frequency conversion schemes that are frequently used for both terrestrial and space communications. Another application of polymer integrated optics is in the field of optical sensing for high-frequency (GHz) electric fields.     

Electro-Optic Polymer Integrated Optic Devices and Future Applications

Recent developments in electro-optic polymer materials and devices have led to new opportunities for integrated optic devices in numerous applications. The results of numerous tests have indicated that polymer materials have many properties that are suitable for use in high-speed communications systems, various sensor systems, and space applications. These results, coupled with recent advances in device and material technology, will allow very large bandwidth modulators and switches with low drive voltages, improved loss, long-term stability, and integration with other microelectronic devices such as MEMS. Low drive voltage devices are very important for space applications where power consumption scales as the square of the modulator half-wave voltage. In addition, we have demonstrated novel dual polymer modulators for mixing RF signals to produce sum and difference frequency modulation on an optical beam. This novel approach allows the suppression of the modulation at the two input RF signals, and only the mixing signals remain superposed on the optical beam. The dual modulator can be used for various encoding/decoding and frequency conversion schemes that are frequently used for both terrestrial and space communications. Another application of polymer integrated optics is in the field of optical sensing for high-frequency (GHz) electric fields.     

电容式射频微机电系统开关损耗机制

插入损耗是射频微机电系统 (RF MEMS) 开关的关键性能指标之一。电容式RF MEMS开关是一种适合高频应用的开关器件,对其损耗机制进行了研究。电容式RF MEMS开关的射频损耗主要包括四部分:信号线的导体损耗、衬底损耗、辐射损耗以及MEMS桥损耗。对电容式RF MEMS开关建立了损耗模型并进行了数值计算,同时在HFSS有限元软件中进行了电磁仿真,数值计算结果和有限元仿真结果较好的吻合。此外,对影响电容式RF MEMS开关插入损耗的因素进行了分析,结果表明,高阻抗的衬底、200 m左右的导体宽度、较小的导体厚度以及较小的up态电容能够降低开关的插入损耗,提高开关的射频性能。     

Interferometric ultrafast SOA-based optical switches: From devices to applications

All-optical switches are fundamental building blocks for future, high-speed optical networks that utilize optical time division multiplexing (OTDM) techniques to achieve single channel data rates exceeding 100 Gb/s. Interferometric optical switches using semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) non-linearities perform efficient optical switching with < 500 fJ of control energy and are approaching optical sampling bandwidths of nearly 1 THz. In this paper, we review work underway at Princeton University to characterize and demonstrate these optical switches as processing elements in practical networks and systems. Three interferometric optical switch geometries are presented and characterized. We discuss limitations on the minimum temporal width of the switching window and prospects for integrating the devices. Using these optical switches as demultiplexers, we demonstrate two 100-Gb/s testbeds for photonic packet switching. In addition to the optical networking applications, we have explored simultaneous wavelength conversion and pulse width management. We have also designed high bandwidth sampling systems using SOA-based optical switches as analog optical sampling gates capable of analyzing optical waveforms with bandwidths exceeding 100 GHz. We believe these devices represent a versatile approach to all-optical processing as a variety of applications can be performed without significantly changing the device architecture.     

Optical repeater utilizing bistable switches

In this paper we report the implementation of optical repeater using bistableswitches.Experimental results with NLIF and BILED switches are presented.The repeater hasthe functions of amplifying,reshaping and retiming.The repeater may satisfy the require-ments for practical applications by replacing the switches with high speed ones.     

Optical True Time Delay for Phased Array Antennas Composed of 2×2 Optical MEMS Switches and Fiber Delay Lines

We proposed an optical true time delay (TTD) for phased array antennas (PAAs) composed of 2×2 optical MEMS switches, single-mode fiber delay lines, and a fixed wavelength laser diode. A 3-bit TTD for 10 GHz PAAs was implemented with a time delay error less than ± 0.2 ps.     

MEMS与MEMS光开关

微机电系统(MEMS)技术是一种新型制造技术,在光通信的发展中得到广泛的应用,有极大的市场价值.在整个光通信中,光开关是较为重要的光无源器件,在光网络系统中可对光信号进行选择性操作.随着光通信的日益发展,对光开关的技术要求也日益提高,利用MEMS技术制作的新型光开关具有体积小、重量轻、能耗低、集成化程度高等特点,从而日益成为研究的热点.本文简单介绍了MEMS技术和其主要特点,并较详细地阐述了MEMS技术在光通信中的应用,以及MEMS光开关的结构、发展趋势和目前存在的主要问题.     

A hybrid model for the charging process of the amorphous SiO2 film in radio frequency microelectromechanical system capacitive switches

Charging is one of the most important reliability issues in radio frequency microelectro-mechanical systems(RF MEMS) capacitive switches since it makes the actuation voltage unstable.This paper proposes a hybrid model to describe the transient dielectric charging and discharging process in the defect-rich amorphous SiO 2 RF MEMS capacitive switches and verifies experimentally.The hybrid model contains two parts according to two different charging mechanisms of the amorphous SiO 2,which are the polarisation and charge injection.The models for polarisation and for charge injection are established,respectively.Analysis and experimental results show that polarisation is always effective,while the charge injection has a threshold electric field to the amorphous SiO 2 film.Under different control voltage conditions,the hybrid model can accurately describe the experimental data.     

Vibration analysis of circular cylindrical double-shell structures under general coupling and end boundary conditions

In this paper, the free and forced vibration analysis of circular cylindrical double-shell structures under arbitrary boundary conditions is presented. This is achieved by employing the improved Fourier series method based on Hamilton’s principle. In the formulation, each displacement component of the cylindrical shells and annular plates is invariantly expanded as the superposition of a standard Fourier series with several supplementary functions introduced to remove the potential discontinuities of the original displacement and its derives at the boundaries. With the introduction of four sets of boundary springs at the coupling interfaces and end boundaries of the shell–plate combination, both elastic and rigid coupling and end boundary conditions can be easily obtained by assigning the stiffnesses of the artificial springs to certain values. The natural frequencies and mode shapes of the structures as well as frequency responses under forced vibration are obtained with the Rayleigh–Ritz procedure. The convergence of the method is validated by comparing the present results with those obtained by the finite element method. Several numerical results including natural frequencies and mode shapes are presented to demonstrate the excellent accuracy and reliability of the current method. Finally, a number of parameter studies concerning various end and coupling boundary conditions, different dimensions of shells and annular plates are also performed.     

Angle extended linear MEMS scanning system for 3D laser vision sensor

Scanning system is often considered as the most important part for 3D laser vision sensor. In this paper, we propose a method for the optical system design of angle extended linear MEMS scanning system, which has features of huge scanning degree, small beam divergence angle and small spot size for 3D laser vision sensor. The principle of design and theoretical formulas are derived strictly. With the help of software ZEMAX, a linear scanning optical system based on MEMS has been designed. Results show that the designed system can extend scanning angle from ±8° to ±26.5° with a divergence angle small than 3.5 mr, and the spot size is reduced for 4.545 times.     

模块化固体开关脉冲功率源触发技术

为满足高功率脉冲源小型化和高重复频率运行的研制需要,提出了一种基于固体开关(可控硅)的电感隔离型高压脉冲发生器触发控制设计方案。这种方案采用光纤收发器件及其驱动电路和高耐压脉冲变压器,研究了固体开关脉冲功率源控制技术中的触发信号高压隔离、光分多路及脉冲变压器分立或并联使用等关键技术。给出了单模块触发控制电路的设计及测试结果:5级LC回路在每级充电电压4 kV输入时,实现最终32 kV的输出,功率源模块输出/输入电压转换效率达到80%。同时对其应用特点进行了分析和讨论。     

多位数序列全加器的光电混合实现

本文报道用光不双稳开关构成多位数序列全加器的方法，并用非线性干涉滤光片双稳开关进行了原理性实验演示，完成了四位二进制数的全加运算。     

Gaussian beam coupling on a MEMS mirror array

A general formula for evaluating Gaussian beam coupling characteristics on a MEMS mirror array was developed, with consideration of parameters such as beam size, mirror width and mirror gap. Based on the formula, the influence of each parameter on the spectral response was simulated for MEMS mirror array employed in a wavelength selective switch and a tunable optical filter. The simulation results are helpful for the design of MEMS mirror array in optical devices.