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With the advent of very large-scale integration (VLSI) technology, not only mechanical, but optical units such as beam splitters, lenses and reflectors can also be integrated in miniature semiconductor technologies which are now giving way to a new type of fibre-optics trend known as micro-optics. The devices are well-proven against mechanical vibrations which lead to the next step of integrating the micro-optical devices with the micromechanical devices to obtain micro-opto-electromechanical systems (MOEMS). MOEMS are 3D integrated optical circuits that comprise of self-calibrated and self-tested optical elements obtained via high-precision mechanical actuation. These systems have revolutionised the fibre-optics industry due to an outstanding growth in bandwidth capacity and networking capabilities of light wave systems. MOEMS are low power consumption and low-cost devices, three trends and directions can be attributed to MOEMS-based systems. Improvement of lasers, photo detectors, filters and mirrors in order to calibrate their characteristics in a wide range of embedded electronics and communication devices

• The assembly of MOEMS devices such as switches, attenuators and free-space setups including Michelson interferometers
• Development of sophisticated signal processing devices such as spectrometers, high-performance hard-drives and optical computers
  
   
  
  The technology is further extended to new frontiers via the nanotechnology to the nanometre scale with new engineering designs commonly known as the nano-electromechanical systems (NEMS). Both the MOEMS and NEMS are used in the fibre optics technology in the development of wired and wireless, electrical and mechanical sensors, free-space optical interconnections, WDMs and switches.