Helix Vol. 8(6): 4345- 4348
4345 Copyright © 2018 Helix E-ISSN: 2319-5592; P-ISSN: 2277-3495
Recent Development in Applications of Optical MEMS: A Review
Poorvi K. Joshi
Assistant Professor, Department of Electronics Engineering, Shri Ramdeobaba College of Engineering and
Management, Ramdeo Tekadi, Gittikhadan, Katol Road, Nagpur 440013, India
Email: joshipk@rknec.edu
Received: 20
th
September 2018, Accepted: 11
th
October 2018, Published: 31
st
October 2018
Abstract
Recent development of optical MEMS emphasis on application in the field of telecommunications, various sensors and
micro mirror devices are few examples. Different optical devices and systems reported and explained the major difficulties
in its development as well as performance. Advantages of optical MEMS are miniaturization, integration and mass
production which create lot of potential to carry out research in this area. Focus of presented review is to explore the areas
for future research work. Also, to identify the key and important issues related with optical MEMS and try to develop a
technology to mitigate these issues.
Keywords
MEMS, MOEMS Devices, Sensors, Micro Mirrors
Introduction
Miniaturization of devices or mechanical elements is important issue in development of new technology. A micro-opto-
elctro-mechanical system (MOEMS) is miniaturized devices which measures and manipulates optical signals upon
actuation of mechanical signals. Over a last decade it gains very importance for industrial application in terms of sensors
or actuators. Recent advances in MOEMS technologies make optical system more robust and allow designing simpler.
Now a days, applications of micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) and MOEMS are in consumer, industrial,
automotive, avionic, and biomedical fields. Various forces acting on devices, improved functionalities and environment
conditions affecting the working of devices are the important issues in improvement of design and integration of MOEMS
devices. The development in new technology paves way for wider applications of MOEMS devices for future. Packaging
of optical component and placing of it on the mechanical structure are the key issue for precise working and functional
reliability of the devices. MEMS scanning mirrors are the commonly used MOEMS devices and all have a movable mirror
plate. It is very important to measure and control the displacement and/or rotation angle of the mirror plate. A miniaturized
micromechanical element performs various optical functions; alter the profile or track intensity and phase of optical beam.
All these actions are achieved by physical displacement like; revolution of mirrors, pressure, stresses, temperature
variations which produces optical effect in MOEMS devices. Simulation technique based on beam tracing or by the scalar
scattering theory where the scattering parameters are calibrated by comparison with experiential data. A widely used
solver of Maxwell equations is based on the Rigorous Coupled-Wave Method (RCWA). In presented review applications
of optical MEMS and issues related to optical MEMS devices applications are discussed.
Recent Development in Optical MEMS
MEMS optical sub-systems that are used within a optical communication system are optical fibers, lasers and laser diodes,
optical receivers (photodetector), focusing lenses, diffraction lenses and gratings and mirrors. Advantages of optical
MEMS are easy to manipulate light, simplified packaging, small size. Applications for MEMS have been developed in
several fields: consumer products, gaming, aerospace, automotive, biomedical, chemical, optical displays, wireless and
optical communications, fluidics. S. Saponara et.al [1] proposed 10-bit resistor-string digital-to-analog converter (DAC)
for MOEMS micro mirror interfacing is realized in a 0.18-µm BCD technology. The key element is a folded resistor-string
stage with a switch matrix and address decoders plus an output voltage buffer stage. They compared the proposed DAC to
the state-of-the-art resistor-string converters in terms of bit resolution, linearity, and power consumption. The proposed
DAC has the advantage of the smallest area occupation and Power-down circuitry is also implemented. M. Garrigues et.al
[2] demonstrate the potential of micro-opto-electro-mechanical system (MOEMS) devices such as shutters, rotating
mirrors based on III-V semiconductor materials, with special emphasis on applications for telecommunications. They
demonstrated the use of MOEMS technology to enhance the capabilities of optical micro-cavity when strict confinement
of the light is required in photonic devices, such as lasers. T. Niesel and A. Dietzel [3] implemented a micro-optical
resonator gyroscope from which the necessity of micro alignment for two rotational axes becomes obvious. Micro-clamps
allow aligned positioning and fixing of the double mirror elements in order to compensate initial rotational misalignments
in the assembly of the resonator. They concluded that in future stiffer micro-spring structures will be investigated which
DOI 10.29042/2018-4345-4348