Liwei Lin (Advisor)

Optical interconnects are the next evolutionary step for computer server systems, replacing traditional copper interconnects to increase communication bandwidth and reduce overall power consumption. A variety of implementation techniques to bring optics to the rack-to-rack, board-to-board, and chip-to-chip scale are heavily pursued in the research space. In this dissertation we present a micro-electro mechanical systems (MEMS) based free-space optical link for board-to-board interconnects.

As with any free-space optical system, alignment is critical for the correction of undesired...

High quality factor (Q) optical whispering gallery mode resonators are a key component in many on-chip optical systems, such as delay lines, modulators, and add-drop filters. They are also a convenient, compact structure for studying optomechanical interactions on-chip. In all these applications, optical Q is an important factor for high performance. For optomechanical reference oscillators in particular, high mechanical Q is also necessary. Previously, optical microresonators have been made in a wide variety of materials, but it has proven challenging to demonstrate high optical Q and...

Micromechanical resonant switches (“resoswitches”) that harness the high-Q resonance and nonlinear dynamical properties of micromechanical structures are demonstrated that can achieve higher switching speed, better reliability (even under hot switching), and lower actuation voltage, all by substantial factors, over existing RF MEMS switches. Various mechanical structures (low to high resonance frequencies) with different structural and contact materials (medium to low resistances) are designed and fabricated to verify the advantages predicted by theory. Ample amounts of data were...