Design and modelling of optical microsystems

Optical microsystems consist of micro-optical, integrated-optical, mechanical and packaging components. Due to the hybrid nature and the high complexity of these microsystems a general design strategy is required. Here, we present an approach based on a specification-environment and a design-environment. The specification-environment enables the selection of appropriate solutions for given applications and includes fabrication technologies, assembling strategies and test methods. The design-environment is a general simulation and modelling framework with software tools covering the whole design and optimisation process. As test examples for our design strategy, several realisation of fibre optical switches are designed and investigated.