Optical devices employing a Mach-Zehnder interferometer ("MZI") device havin g a phase shifter provided in one arm that enables the construction of significantly smaller optical devices than typical photonic devices, and significantly reduces the amount of on-chip real estate occupied by such devices, while not affecting the ability of such devices to introduce a predetermined phase shift in an optical signal. The present invention takes advantage of the extremely small mechanical actuators which can be fabricate d using small-scale fabrication techniques, and so significantly reduces the room needed on a chip for optical switches. These more compact switches require less chip space and so provide for denser integration of a plurality of optical devices in an optical component.