Advanced MEMS for photonics

Micro-electro-mechanical-systems (MEMS) is a key enabling technology for many new all optical network elements in next-generation photonic networks. With intensive efforts from industry in the last five years, many of these new photonic MEMS components have now moved from research laboratories into commercial reality. Examples include 2D and 3D MEMS optical switches, and wavelength-division-multiplexed (WDM) optical add-drop multiplexers (OADM). In the meantime, research laboratories continue to develop newer photonic MEMS components and technologies. In this talk, we review the state of the art of photonic MEMS components and systems, and describe the development of new photonic MEMS research at UCLA.