Reconfigurable and scalable intergrated optic waveguide add/drop multiplexing element using micro-opto-electro-mechanical systems and methods of fabricating thereof

A multifunctional integrated optic waveguide add/drop multiplexing element comprising:

• light-transmitting waveguides with a cross connecting configuration on a planar lightwave circuit and optical fibers coupled into said light-transmitting waveguides;
• a four-sided trench with four substantially vertical sidewalls at a cross connecting location of said light-transmitting waveguides, wherein cores of said light-transmitting waveguides being individually terminated by said four substantially vertical sidewalls of said four-sided trench, and further wherein, said four-sided trench being defined and fabricated by lithographic micromachining processes;
• a substantially long and narrow two-sided trench with two parallel and substantially vertical sidewalls, wherein said two-sided trench diagonally intersecting with said four-sided trench and extruding further beyond area defined by said four-sided trench without crossing any cores of said light-transmitting waveguides;
• a substantially vertical movable plate placed into said four-sided trench and positioned along said two-sided trench in order to alter propagation and distribution of optical signals among four ports defined by said four-sided trench reflectively, refractively, diffractively, transmitively, or any combination thereof, wherein said optical signals comprising a single or a plurality of optical wavelength channels, and further wherein, said vertical movable plate capable of selectively adding, dropping, or any combination thereof entire or any particular spectral bands of said optical wavelength channels without influencing other pass-through signals of said optical wavelength channels;
• tapered and shifted cores of light-transmitting waveguides at said four-sided trench in order to increase optical signal coupling efficiency, to improve optical signal uniformity, and to reduce alignment requirements for said vertical movable plate relative to sender and receiver ports at said four-sided trench, wherein said tapered cores being either symmetric or asymmetric;
• and
• a bulk-micromachined moving device on a substrate with means of attaching said vertical movable plate to itself and said bulk-micromachined moving device capable of displacing said vertical movable plate in and out of optical paths, partially or completely, within areas defined by said four-sided trench.