Optimisation study of micro cantilevers for switching of photonic band gap crystals

We propose to use electrostatically actuated micro bimorph cantilevers with tips for nanometric perturbations in the evanescent field of various resonators and photonic band gap crystals (PBG) using a self aligning technology. Since in PBG and in other high optical index contrast structures the interaction of evanescent field with mechanical elements start to play a role typically with a distance <400 nanometers, the required cantilever strokes for switching c an be accordingly small. This allows for fabrication of relative stiff cantilevers with resonance frequencies in the MHz range. In this contribution we describe the technology for such devices, the optimization studies of the cantilever designs and measurements of mechano-optical interactions using an AFM based cantilever.