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Optical MEMS
Frost & Sullivan, Sep 2002
MEMS technology has advanced significantly in recent years and has spawned a promising optically-related sub segment called microoptoelectromechanical systems (MOEMS) or, commonly known as, optical MEMS. These optical systems show great potential for use in several industry segments, including displays, biomedicine, and telecommunications.
This Technical Insights' report provides:
- A detailed overview of technological advances in optical MEMS in research centers around the world
- Definitions of key sub-markets and applications
- Identification of key companies and developers and prospects for technology commercialization
- Reporting on technology drivers as well as obstacles to commercialization
- A detailed list of key contacts in the field, including names, titles, addresses, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, and URLs
Optical MEMS- the result of a technological convergence of computing and information processing with photonics- are being increasingly used in the development of lasers, and fiberoptics, which are providing the backbone of telecommunications. Optical MEMS technologies are based on micromachining- a process that is also used in IC (integrated circuit) fabrication. Micromachining involves the manufacture of mechanical structures in the micron to millimeter range.
In a nutshell, optical MEMS technology will be mainly driven by the progress in optical communications. Photonic switches, scanners, displays, and micromirrors will be the main devices that will enable optical MEMS to penetrate large instrumentation and telecommunications markets. Various MEMS components and sub-systems such as high-speed optical modulators, reconfigurable wavelength-add/drop multiplexers, and optical cross connects have been demonstrated for optical-fiber communications and are either already commercialized or are on the verge of it.
The unique capability of optical MEMS to integrate optical, mechanical, and electrical components on a single wafer allows for the implementation of various key optical-network elements in a compact, low-cost form sums up Technical Insights' Analyst Jim Smith.
However, there are also other promising areas for optical MEMS. As these devices are essentially laboratories on a chip carrying out analysis on a miniaturized scale, biomedicine seems to be an emerging area. The display sector is also a prospective application segment, with use for optical MEMS in projection displays, portable communications devices, other handheld devices, and instrumentation displays.
Since cost and reliability are always key issues in the commercialization of any technology, researchers throughout the world have been attempting to make these devices without using any macroscopic mechanical parts that might lead to higher costs and unreliability. New ways to overcome transmission obstacles and provisioning and restoring network traffic in units at roughly the wavelength level also have to be found. Once solutions to such problems are found, the field of optical MEMS will grow by leaps and bounds.
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