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| | Optical MEMS Scientists at Xerox Corporation are conducting advanced research into micro-opto-electromechanical systems (MOEMS), or microscopic machines on a chip, to find ways of using the devices to boost performance, speed and cost-efficiency of Xerox products. A futuristic vision for decades, MEMS is now emerging from the shadow of microelectronics to be a field all its own. Xerox, which has spent the last several years miniaturizing its functionality into smaller and smaller spaces, is an industry leader in advancing the development of silicon-based MEMS.
A MEMS device combines the computational functionality of the integrated circuit with the sensory ability of a mechanical device, though it has more in common with a robot than it does with a transistor. A MEMS device can discern when something has happened and react to it. And, like an integrated circuit, a MEMS device can also compute. Xerox’s technology breaks the bandwidth barrier that exists today by integrating an Optical MEMS photonic switch with planar light circuits on a single silicon chip small enough to fit on a fingertip - a first ever achievement. The breakthrough could assist the effort to bring affordable, high-capacity fiber optics directly to businesses and even homes. The new switch promises to provide rapid delivery of optical services by providing the functionality of a Reconfigurable Optical Add/Drop Multiplexer (R-OADM), a routing device that's commonly used today but is 10 to 100 times as large and costly. Optical networks based on Xerox technology could go way beyond delivering on-demand DVD-quality videos in homes - it could help usher in a new era of undreamed-of Internet applications, changing the way we do business, seek information and find entertainment.
Today's optical networking equipment must switch from the optical to the electronic domain. Xerox's technology enables switching in the all-optical domain. Because it controls the flow of light rather than the flow of electrons, it is ultimately faster, smaller and cheaper. With the Xerox switch, an entire R-OADM can be compressed into 2 cm x 1.5 cm in size, and can direct enormous amounts of data in ways that currently require large racks of assembled equipment. "Waveguides" are very small conductors of light, about 5 to 6 microns or 1/10 the thickness of a human hair. The Xerox MOEMS waveguide shuttle acts like a miniature train track switch for the fine waveguides, avoiding the problems of earlier, mirror-based MOEMS switches. The MOEMS switches and waveguides are made together on a single crystal silicon wafer using widely available semiconductor processing equipment. Such on-chip integration avoids the complex alignment issues associated with manually connecting different and larger components with optical fibers, and avoids the cost and space associated with manufacturing, assembling and packaging the separate components of Add/Drop Multiplexers. In addition, the new technology eliminates the need for technicians to make routing changes in the field, ultimately bringing bandwidth to consumers faster.
Xerox research has resulted in the fabrication of MOEMS that require minimal interconnects, which increases reliability and also decreases manufacturing cost - both important factors to the continued adoption of MOEMS in biomedical, telecommunications, automotive and aerospace industries. The Xerox MOEMS technology can be leveraged to benefit other industries as well. For instance, in optical fiber switching and industrial automation, the use of MOEMS micro-mirrors can also be used to move light beams. Another potential application for MOEMS devices is in Signature Analysis for Xerox printers and copiers. Signature Analysis is a technology that monitors a machine’s components for “signature” vibrations that may indicate a part failure is imminent. MEMS devices with tiny tuning forks can facilitate this by capturing vibration and transmitting it to the machine’s diagnostic equipment for analysis. The versatility, functionality, reliability and cost savings of MOEMS technology will be a key advantage in many industries.
The new optical switch technology builds on a broadly enabling MOEMS fabrication platform developed under a grant provided by the National Institute of Standards and Technology in its Advanced Technology Program. Xerox is the lead partner in the Optical MEMS Manufacturing Consortium. Other partners include Palo Alto Research Center, a subsidiary of Xerox; Corning IntelliSense, a MEMS foundry and software company; Microscan, a data acquisition firm; and Coventor, a MEMS software company. They are tasked with developing a manufacturing process for Optical MEMS, which can be used broadly. In addition, Xerox is a founding partner in New York State's recently announced Center for Excellence in Microsystems and Photonics, an advanced research and manufacturing facility that will help speed the transformation of this research into reality. At Xerox, MEMS research began in 1993 and Optical MEMS in 1998. Using Optical MEMS, Xerox is working to improve color image quality during the color reproduction process. Optical MEMS devices could eventually eliminate the need for high-cost precision manufacturing of components that stabilize movement in Xerox photoreceptor belts.  For the first time, Xerox researchers have developed, on a single silicon chip, technology that could help route high-capacity fiber optics "the last mile" to small businesses and homes. The technology is drastically smaller and much cheaper than devices currently in use. The Optical MEMS (Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems) switch is integrated with light circuits to route fiber optic signals.
To learn more about licensing the Optical Microelectromechanical Systems technology, contact Xerox. Read more about Optical Microelectromechanical Systems technology in press release 1 and press release 2. | |
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