Retro-Axial VOA Using Parabolic Mirror Pair

Author

Zhang, X.M. ; Liu, A.Q. ; Cai, H. ; Yu, A.B. ; Lu, C.

Author_Institution

Sch. of Electr. & Electron. Eng., Nanyang Technol. Univ., Singapore

Volume

19

Issue

9

fYear

2007

fDate

5/1/2007 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

692

Lastpage

694

Abstract

This letter presents a design of a microelectromechanical systems variable optical attenuator (VOA) that employs a pair of parabolic mirrors as the retro-reflector, which has obtained a linear relationship over a 62-dB range between the attenuation (in decibels) and the mirror rotation angle (in degrees). The insertion loss measures 0.6 dB thanks to the three-dimentional optical coupling design. The linearity comes from the simultaneous shift and defocus of the laser beam. Compared with the conventional coaxial and cross-axial VOAs, such retro-axial design has the two fibers arranged on the same side and thus facilitates the use of standard packaging formats

Keywords

laser beams; micro-optomechanical devices; micromirrors; optical attenuators; optical design techniques; optical losses; packaging; coaxial optical attenuator; cross-axial optical attenuator; insertion loss; laser beam defocus; microelectromechanical systems; mirror rotation angle; optical coupling design; parabolic mirror pair; retroaxial optical attenuator; retroreflector; standard packaging formats; three-dimensional optical coupling; variable optical attenuator; Fiber lasers; Insertion loss; Linearity; Loss measurement; Microelectromechanical systems; Mirrors; Optical attenuators; Optical coupling; Optical design; Optical losses; Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS); parabolic micromirror; variable optical attenuator (VOA);

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Photonics Technology Letters, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1041-1135

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/LPT.2007.894941

Filename

4147632