Development of Silicon Photonic MEMS Wavelength Switch Networks for Optical Communication Systems

在电子商务、社交媒体和云计算等应用的推动下，互联网数据流量的增长继续推动着用于高速光数据网络的低成本、紧凑和高性能光学元件的发展。光通信系统运行的核心是波长交换网络(WSN)，它按需路由和连接数据通道。因此，光网络的数据传输能力在很大程度上取决于WSN可以容纳的波长信道和物理端口的数量。现有的无线传感器网络通常基于自由空间微型机电系统(MEMS)开关，这些开关体积庞大，难以扩展以适应不断增加的数据通道数量。利用硅光子集成电路(SiPIC)的低成本和紧凑性以及MEMS光开关的高性能，该方案旨在开发一种紧凑、低电压和可扩展的无线传感器网络体系结构，该体系结构基于硅PICS和MEMS在一块与CMOS兼容的芯片上的单片集成。为了减少制造引起的变化并提高器件成品率，该项目将采用一种基于飞秒激光照射的技术，用于不需要连续电源的硅PIC的制造后微调。该项目的成果将是一个功能齐全的无线传感器网络原型，可以进行扩展以满足行业规范，并为实现硅PIC中的MEMS应用提供一个低成本的平台。行业合作伙伴是Preciseley Microtech Corp.，这是一家总部位于埃德蒙顿的公司，在为电信市场设计和制造光学MEMS产品方面拥有16年的经验。作为MEMS技术的市场领导者，Preciseley拥有丰富的经验和资源，能够充分利用通过该项目开发的技术，并促进其立即推向市场。该项目还将通过培训高素质人才以及发展光电子、半导体制造和电信领域的本土专业知识，为加拿大经济带来直接好处。

The growth of internet data traffic, driven by applications such as e-commerce, social media and cloudcomputing, continues to drive the development of low-cost, compact and high-performance opticalcomponents for high-speed optical data networks. Central to the operation of an optical communicationsystem are wavelength switch networks (WSNs), which route and connect data channels on demand. The datatransmission capacity of an optical network thus depends to a great extent on the number of wavelengthchannels and physical ports the WSNs can accommodate. Existing WSNs are typically based on free spacemicro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) switches, which are bulky and difficult to scale up to accommodateincreased data channel count. By leveraging the low cost and compactness of silicon photonic integratedcircuits (Si PICs) and the high performance of MEMS optical switches, this proposal aims to develop acompact, low-voltage and scalable WSN architecture based on the monolithic integration of Si PICs andMEMS on a CMOS-compatible chip. To mitigate fabrication-induced variations and improve device yield, theproject will employ a technique based on femtosecond laser irradiation for post-fabrication finetuning of Si PICs that does not require continuous power supply. The outcome of the project will be a fully functional WSN prototype that can be scaled to meet industry specifications and to provide a low-cost platform for realizing MEMS-enabled applications in Si PICs. The industry partner is Preciseley Microtechnology Corp., an Edmonton-based company with 16 years ofexperience in designing and manufacturing optical MEMS products for the telecom market. As a marketleader in MEMS technology, Preciseley has the experience and resource to capitalize on the technologydeveloped through the project and facilitate its immediate transfer to the market. The project will also bringdirect benefits to the Canadian economy through the training of highly-qualified personnel and thedevelopment of home-grown expertise in the photonics, semiconductor manufacturing and telecom sectors.