A review of different types of photonic MEMS tunable lasers

Liu, A.Q. (School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University); Cai, H.; Zhang, X.M.; Tamil, J.

Source: Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering, v 6836, MEMS/MOEMS Technologies and Applications III, 2008, p 683602

ISSN: 0277-786X CODEN: PSISDG

Conference: MEMS/MOEMS Technologies and Applications III, Nov 12-14 2007, Beijing, China

Sponsor: The International Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE); Chinese Optical Society (COS)

Publisher: SPIE

Abstract: In this paper, four different types of miniaturized Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) based tunable lasers, from photonic MEMS laser designs to fabrication techniques, are introduced. These tunable lasers are MEMS external cavity laser, injection-locked laser, coupled-cavity laser, and dual-wavelength laser. The properties, functionalities and performances of the MEMS-based tunable lasers are individually discussed based on their experimental results. The potential applications in fiber optical communications are also identified. These tunable lasers, which are more innovative in terms of design, specifications and configurations compared to traditional lasers, also provide significant improvements in their functionalities. (17 refs.)

 terms:  Lasers  -  Architectural design  -  Composite micromechanics  -  Electrochemical sensors  -  Electromechanical devices  -  Fiber optic sensors  -  Fiber optics  -  Laser tuning  -  MEMS  -  Microelectromechanical devices  -  Nanostructured materials  -  Optical communication  -  Photonics  -  Pulsed laser deposition  -  Specifications  -  Technology