Integration of thin film photonic devices onto micromachined movable platforms

The integration of compound semiconductor emitters and detectors with micromachined devices to form micro-opto-mechanical systems (MOMS) offers significant opportunities in applications ranging from sensing to optoelectronics packaging. For example, a significant fraction of the cost of many current optoelectronic components and systems is consumed by the alignment of the fiber or package to the optoelectronic device. The development of MOMS, as described below, offers an opportunity for low cost alignment of optoelectronics through the integration of thin film devices with micromachined movable actuators. The thin film semiconductor photonic devices used in this work were AlGaAs/GaAs/AlGaAs double heterostructure p-i-n devices. These high quality single crystal structures were grown lattice matched on top of a sacrificial AlAs layer which had been grown lattice matched to a GaAs substrate