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Programmable photonics promise a plethora of optical functions while at the same time reducing the time and costs of photonic integrated circuit (PIC) development. One primary bottleneck for development of these systems is the difficulty in increasing component density because of excessive power consumption. We here present a MEMS-based Silicon Photonic power coupler that offers high optical performance (> 18 dB extinction ratio (ER), < 1.2 dB insertion loss (IL), and > 80 nm of optical bandwidth) within a compact footprint (25 mu m x 150 mu m) to provide a power-efficient active function: fast, continuous power tuning., Part of proceedings: ISBN 978-1-6654-0911-7QC 20220516

The integration of MEMS transducers in photonic integrated circuits provides opportunities for high efficiency photonic modulation and dynamic routing on-chip. We here present an electrostatically actuated, silicon photonic MEMS 2 x 2 power coupler, fabricated in IMEC's iSiPP50G platform followed by a dedicated MEMS release sequence. The in-plane, mechanical tuning mechanism provides analog power coupling between waveguides in a small form factor. With our experimental demonstration of broad, > 30 nm optical bandwidth, high extinction ratio of > 27 dB, and a low actuation voltage of only 6 V, the coupler fulfills the requirements for large-scale integration in next generation reconfigurable PICs., Part of proceedings: 978-1-6654-1267-4, QC 20230117

We present a vertically movable silicon photonic MEMS switch realized in IMEC's standard silicon photonics platform followed by a dedicated postprocessing for MEMS release. The device has six optical ports, which enable four switching configurations with a safe electrical isolation of the switch's actuator. A low actuation voltage of 3.75 V is required to efficiently switch the optical signal from the drop port to the through port of the device. The device exhibits port extinctions of 16 dB and 26 dB at its OFF and ON states, respectively. With an insertion loss of < 2 dB and a broad 3 dB-bandwidth > 35 nm, this component paves the way for low-power scalable circuits in MEMS-enabled silicon photonics., QC 20210730