Mechanically-Tunable Photonic Devices with On-Chip Integrated MEMS/NEMS Actuators

Abstract

This article reviews mechanically-tunable photonic devices with on-chip integrated MEMS/NEMS actuators. With related reports mostly published within the last decade, this review focuses on the tuning mechanisms of various passive silicon photonic devices, including tunable waveguides, couplers, ring/disk resonators, and photonic crystal cavities, and their results are selectively elaborated upon and compared. Applications of the mechanisms are also discussed. Future development of mechanically-tunable photonics is considered and one possible approach is based on plasmonics, which can confine light energy in the nano-scale space. Optomechanics is another innovation, derived from the strong coupling of optical and mechanical degrees of freedom. State-of-the-art studies of mechanically-tunable plasmonics and on-chip optomechanics are also selectively reviewed.

Nanomechanical Motion Transducers for Miniaturized Mechanical Systems

“…As hinted above, near-field (evanescent) optical interactions provide an attractive avenue for nanomechanical motion transduction. Near-field optical interactions have been well explored in MEMS-scale structures [ 118 , 119 ]. Furthermore, they fit the length scale of NEMS well and can provide sensitivity beyond the diffraction limit.…”

Invited Article: Tuning and stabilization of optomechanical crystal cavities through NEMS integration

“…We demonstrate feedback control of the optical cavity resonance, and explore the tradeoff between larger tuning range and lower modulation bandwidth. In comparison to previous work on electrostatically-tunable optomechanical systems, including photonic crystals [15][16][17][18][19][20] , here the actuator is entirely independent of the optomechanical resonator, so that the advantageous properties of the nanobeam optomechanical crystal system are retained. This incorporation of high-bandwidth electrical tuning and control of the optical resonance can enable stabilization of the intracavity optical power for long-term measurements, e.g., in the presence of thermal fluctuations.…”

Anti-stiction coating for mechanically tunable photonic crystal devices

“…Their combination with photonic crystals (PhC) allows the control of the frequencies of optical modes without introducing additional losses [2]. For this reason, their use has attracted attention in quantum photonic integrated circuits [3], for instance to control the relative detuning between cavities and emitters [4,5] or to enhance the light-matter interaction [6].…”