The MEMS Optical Control Platform is a microfabrication platform for devices that physically control light using micron-scale mechanical, optical, and electromechanical structures. It supports precision optical functions in AI infrastructure, Physical AI, communications, LiDAR, imaging, sensing, AR/VR, and other advanced systems. The platform includes the design and manufacture of movable mirrors, mirror arrays, actuators, tunable membranes, optical cavities, alignment structures, beam-shaping features, and wafer-level packages.

The platform solves a fundamental problem: many optical systems require mechanical precision at a scale that conventional mechanical assembly cannot economically or reliably deliver. MEMS optical control changes the equation by moving precision optical motion and alignment into wafer-fabricated structures. Instead of assembling a miniature machine from many separate parts, the critical mechanical and optical features can be fabricated directly into silicon, glass, dielectric films, or other microfabricated materials.

What you will learn in this guide

  • Where the platform fits: AI data-center networking and optical connectivity, optical switching and optical circuit switches, LiDAR and 3D sensing, medical imaging and OCT, AR/VR, tunable filters, photonic packaging, and Physical AI perception systems for robotics and autonomous machines
  • The six microfabrication modules (micromirror, comb drive, diaphragm, microlens, silicon optical bench, and wafer-level packaging) and how they combine into beam-steering, tunable-spectral, and photonic-alignment devices
  • Application architectures: what the platform includes at the device level and the module level, and how it fits into larger systems as an enabling subsystem
  • The system chain (optical source, optical path, MEMS control element, detector or output path, drive electronics, control software, and package) and the interface requirements between them
  • Design considerations: key performance parameters by device type, the mechanical and optical tradeoffs, and what determines whether a design can be manufactured repeatably