Mems-based mechanically tunable flexible photonic crystal

Author

Cui, Y.H. ; Wu, Q. ; Park, W. ; Jeon, J. ; Kim, M.J. ; Lee, J.-B.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. Eng., Univ. of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, USA

fYear

2009

fDate

21-25 June 2009

Firstpage

509

Lastpage

512

Abstract

We report design, fabrication and characterization of a MEMS-based tunable flexible photonic crystal, which is comprised of a periodic array of 290 nm diameter high-index (3.46) silicon rod embedded in a low-index (1.56) SU-8. A couple of chevron electro-thermal actuators are attached to the flexible photonic crystal and tunability is achieved by mechanical force generated by the actuators. The mechanical stress induces changes in the periodicity of the photonic crystal and consequently modifies the photonic band structure. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first ever experimental demonstration of mechanically tunable photonic crystal based on MEMS electro-thermal actuators.

Keywords

micro-optomechanical devices; microactuators; optical design techniques; optical fabrication; optical tuning; photonic band gap; photonic crystals; MEMS electrothermal actuators; chevron electrothermal actuators; high-index silicon rod; low-index SU-8; mechanical force; mechanical stress; mechanically tunable flexible photonic crystal; optical design; optical fabrication; photonic band structure; photonic crystal periodicity; Actuators; Frequency; Lattices; Lenses; Magnetic analysis; Micromechanical devices; Photonic crystals; Polymers; Refractive index; Silicon on insulator technology; MEMS; Photonic crystal; SU-8; flexible; tunable;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Solid-State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems Conference, 2009. TRANSDUCERS 2009. International

Conference_Location

Denver, CO

Print_ISBN

978-1-4244-4190-7

Electronic_ISBN

978-1-4244-4193-8

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/SENSOR.2009.5285373

Filename

5285373