Micromachined integrated optical polarization-state rotator

We propose and demonstrate a monolithically integrated polarization-state rotator with MEMS technology. The proposed polarization-state rotator is composed of micromachined polarization beam splitters, micromirrors, and phase-shifters integrated on a single silicon chip. The experimental results show that micromachined devices can be useful in manipulating polarization states in lightwave systems, and therefore may play important roles in many polarization-state related applications, such as compact and low-cost polarization-mode dispersion (PMD) compensators.