Single-crystal silicon: application to micro-opto-electromechanical devices

Noel C. MacDonald; Ali Jazairy

doi:10.1117/12.209014

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12 May 1995 Single-crystal silicon: application to micro-opto-electromechanical devices

Noel C. MacDonald; Ali Jazairy

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Proceedings Volume 2383, Micro-Optics/Micromechanics and Laser Scanning and Shaping; (1995) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.209014
Event: Photonics West '95, 1995, San Jose, CA, United States

Abstract

We demonstrate the fabrication of an out-of-the-plane Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI) `on-a- chip' using the single crystal reactive etching and metallization (SCREAM) process. A modified version of this process is also developed to generate a fully suspended Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI) `on-a-frame.' The optical device is mounted on a released frame, which includes suspended contact pads and oxide isolating segments. During the process, the total structure (with 8.6 mm² surface area) is fixed to the substrate through serpentine springs. Then, using a pair of fine tweezers, these springs are clipped and the thin membrane- like structure is lifted off the substrate and placed exactly between self-aligned input and output single-mode optical fibers. The suspended FPI `on-a-frame' is made from freely released beams of dimensions comparable to fiber diameter with a vertical depth of 107.5 micrometers . The mirrors of the FPI, which consist of a series of (lambda) /4 SiO₂ and Si film stacks separated by an initial gap distance of 10 micrometers , attract each other when a bias is applied across these capacitor-type plates and tune broad-band IR light into a specific wavelength.

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Noel C. MacDonald and Ali Jazairy "Single-crystal silicon: application to micro-opto-electromechanical devices", Proc. SPIE 2383, Micro-Optics/Micromechanics and Laser Scanning and Shaping, (12 May 1995); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.209014

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