| As a result of the growth of high-bandwidth and on-demand applications, optical fiber communication networks would benefit from a dynamic allocation of resources. Reconfigurability hence becomes a key attribute for next-generation optical components. Using optical micro-electro-mechanical systems (optical MEMS) technology, deformable gratings can be used to build such adaptive systems.; In this dissertation, the design, fabrication and characterization of tunable blazed gratings (TBGs) are first presented. A TBG is a one-dimensional stairway-like array of individually addressable piston mirrors. The fabrication of a TBG combines KOH etching to define the mirrors and deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) to create the electrostatic actuators.; Then, the architecture for a 1xP cyclically reconfigurable optical multiplexer is described with a closed-form analytical model for the grating transmission under a simple actuation scheme requiring only (P-1) control voltages. The implementation of a 1x3 tunable demultiplexer in the telecommunication C-band demonstrates the validity of the concept and the theoretical model.; Finally, a deformable grating is used as the external reflector in a wavelength-tunable external cavity semiconductor laser. Combining a model for the grating transmittance with a two-reflector and a three-reflector cavity analytical model, the wavelengths of the resonant modes for the cavity are determined and the lasing wavelength is predicted. Laser tuning over the full grating free spectral range, across internal cavity modes and across external cavity modes is achieved. |
