MOEMS tuning element for a Littrow external cavity laser

Author

Syms, Richard R A ; Lohmann, Anke

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. & Electron. Eng., Imperial Coll. London, UK

Volume

12

Issue

6

fYear

2003

Firstpage

921

Lastpage

928

Abstract

A miniature grating-tunable external cavity laser diode constructed using microoptoelectromechanical systems (MOEMS) technology is described. The tuning element is a vertically etched blazed grating mounted on a compound flexure, which consists of a cantilever in series with a portal frame. The flexure is deflected using comb electrostatic drives to rotate and translate the grating. The tuning element is prototyped using deep reactive ion etching of bonded silicon-on-insulator (SOI) material. Interferometric measurements of electromechanical performance are presented, and departures from the ideal behavior are identified. Electrostatic tuning of a Littrow external cavity laser over a range of 20 nm using a 50-V drive is demonstrated.

Keywords

diffraction gratings; electrostatic actuators; laser cavity resonators; laser tuning; micro-optics; micromachining; optical fabrication; semiconductor optical amplifiers; silicon-on-insulator; sputter etching; Littrow external cavity laser; MOEMS tuning element; bonded silicon-on-insulator; comb electrostatic drives; compound flexure; deep reactive ion etching; electromechanical performance; flexure mount; high wavelength selectivity; miniature grating-tunable laser diode; semiconductor optical amplifier; vertically etched blazed grating; Bonding; Diode lasers; Electrostatics; Etching; Gratings; Laser tuning; Optical materials; Portals; Prototypes; Silicon on insulator technology;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Microelectromechanical Systems, Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1057-7157

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/JMEMS.2003.820269

Filename

1257373