Title :
Novel micromirror for vertical optical path conversion formed in silica-based PLC using wettability control of resin
Author :
Terui, Hiroshi ; Shutoh, Keizo
Author_Institution :
NTT Opto-Electron. Labs., Ibaraki, Japan
fDate :
9/1/1998 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
A novel technique has been developed for fabricating a micromirror in a single-mode silica-based planar lightwave circuit (PLC), in which the flat slope for the mirror is made of resin by utilizing wettability control and the surface tension effect. It was shown that the mirror could be designed by numerical calculation based on the equation of Young and Laplace for a liquid surface. A controllable mirror angle range from 30 to 60° was achieved experimentally by changing the position of the boundary line between high and low wettability regions using oblique evaporation. The characteristics of a fabricated 45° mirror installed in a silica-based PLC were evaluated by coupling it vertically to a single-mode fiber. The obtained coupling losses between waveguides and a fiber were 0.60-1.15 dB for mirrors with widths of more than 200 μm, and 0.92 1.62 dB for 190 μm wide mirrors, at a wavelength of 1.55 μm. The experimental minimum losses of 0.6 and 0.92 dB coincided with the calculated values
Keywords :
integrated optics; integrated optoelectronics; micromechanical devices; mirrors; optical fabrication; optical losses; silicon compounds; surface tension; 0.6 to 1.15 dB; 0.92 to 1.62 dB; 1.55 mum; 190 mum; 200 mum; boundary line; controllable mirror angle range; liquid surface; micromirror fabrication; minimum losses; oblique evaporation; resin; silica-based PLC; single-mode fiber coupling; single-mode silica-based planar lightwave circuit; surface tension effect; vertical optical path conversion; wettability control; Circuits; Laplace equations; Lighting control; Micromirrors; Mirrors; Optical surface waves; Optical waveguides; Programmable control; Resins; Surface tension;
Journal_Title :
Lightwave Technology, Journal of
