Aeponyx Inc.

Transfert Plus, Societe En Commandite

The Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning/mcgill University

Michael Menard

Frederic Nabki

Jonathan Briere

Francois Menard

Martin Berard

Mohamed Rahim

Philippe-Olivier Beaulieu

Odile Liboiron-Ladouceur

Md Shafiqul Hai

Seyedfakhreddin Nabavi

Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) have found widespread applications across biotechnology, medicine, communications, and consumer electronics. These are typically one-dimensional MEMS (e.g. rotation, linear translation on a single axis) or two-dimensional MEMS (e.g. linear translation in two directions in the plane of the MEMS). It would be beneficial therefore for designers of components, circuits, and systems to exploit MEMS elements that produce both out-of-plane and in-plane motion thereby allowing for novel two-dimensional and three-dimensional MEMS micropositioners.

Rotational and translational micropositioners using deformable microelectromechanical systems

Wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) has enabled telecommunication service providers to provide multiple independent multi-gigabit channels on one optical fiber. To meet demands for improved performance, increased integration, reduced footprint, reduced power consumption, increased flexibility, re-configurability, and lower cost monolithic optical circuit technologies and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) have become increasingly important. However, further integration via microoptoelectromechanical systems (MOEMS) of monolithically integrated optical waveguides upon a MEMS provide further integration opportunities and functionality options. Such MOEMS may include MOEMS mirrors and optical waveguides capable of deflection under electronic control. In contrast to MEMS devices where the MEMS is simply used to switch between two positions the state of MOEMS becomes important in all transition positions. Improvements to the design and implementation of such MOEMS mirrors, deformable MOEMS waveguides, and optical waveguide technologies supporting MOEMS devices are presented where monolithically integrated optical waveguides are directly supported, moved and/or deformed by a MEMS.

Methods and system for wavelength tunable optical components and sub-systems

Hybrid optical integration places very strict manufacturing tolerances and performance requirements upon the multiple elements to exploit passive alignment techniques as well as having additional processing requirements. Alternatively, active alignment and soldering/fixing where feasible is also complex and time consuming with 3, 4, or 6-axis control of each element. However, microelectromechanical (MEMS) systems can sense, control, and activate mechanical processes on the micro scale. Beneficially, therefore the inventors combine silicon MEMS based micro-actuators with silicon CMOS control and drive circuits in order to provide alignment of elements within a silicon optical circuit either with respect to each other or with other optical elements hybridly integrated such as compound semiconductor elements. Such inventive MEMS based circuits may be either maintained as active during deployment or powered off once the alignment has been 'locked' through an attachment/retention/latching process.

Methods and system for microelectromechanical packaging

Wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) has enabled telecommunication service providers to provide multiple independent multi-gigabit channels on one optical fiber. To Microoptoelectromechanical systems (MOEMS) integrating optical waveguides upon a MEMS can provide further integration opportunities and functionality options. Improvements to the design and implementation of MOEMS devices are presented where monolithically integrated optical waveguides are directly supported, moved and/or deformed upon a beam coupled to and manipulated by a MEMS. Accordingly, such MOEMS can provide programmable functionality by enabling alignment of the optical waveguide upon the MEMS to one of multiple optical waveguides disposed relative to the moving facet of the rotating optical waveguide.

Unlike most MEMS device configurations which simply switch between two positions in many optical devices the state of a MEMS mirror is important in all transition positions. It may determine the characteristics of an optical delay line system and by that an optical coherence tomography system in one application and in another the number of wavelength channels and the dynamic wavelength switching capabilities in the other. The role of the MEMS is essential and it is responsible for altering the paths of the different wavelengths in either device. It would be beneficial to improve the performance of such MEMS and thereby the performance of the optical components and optical systems they form part of. The inventors have established improvements to the design and implementation of such MEMS mirrors as well as optical waveguide technologies to in-plane optical processing as well as the mid infrared for optical spectroscopy.

Mirror based microelectromechanical systems and methods

Mirror based micromechanical systems and methods

Photonic integration has primarily sought to exploit optical parallelism through wavelength division multiplexing whilst in many instances 'brute-force' time division multiplexing offers benefits through reduced complexity and cost. However, photoreceivers are primarily the same now for operation at 10 Gb/s, 20 Gb/s, 40 Gb/s and above as 20 or 25 years ago and exploit the same optical detection&#x2014;amplification&#x2014;logic processing design. However, high speed low cost electronics ca be leveraged in conjunction with optical time sampling and logic to provide a new design paradigm. An incoming XGbsoptical data stream is sampled and processed by N photodetectors each operating at (X/N)Gbsrather than the current direct XGbsfront-end of the prior art. Flexibility for the designer in establishing N within optical layer constraints, electronics capabilities etc. allows for further cost&#x2014;power&#x2014;complexity&#x2014;performance tradeoffs to be established in different systems such that high capacity TDM links can exploit direct CMOS integrated optoelectronic front-ends.

Growing community of inventors

Verdun, Canada

Michael Menard