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

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.