Title :
Design and fabrication of an electromagnetically actuated optical switch with precise tilt angle control
Author :
Tseng, Victor Farm-Guoo ; Jiping Li ; Xiaoyang Zhang ; Huikai Xie
Author_Institution :
Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
Abstract :
An electromagnetically actuated MEMS mirror with precise tilt angle control for a bi-state optical switch is reported. A tilt angle control of ± 2.29° is achieved by utilizing the 4 μm BOX layer thickness of an SOI wafer together with carefully controlled backside deep silicon etching to construct precise mechanical stoppers. The device is die level packaged with a KOH etched textured silicon encapsulation to prevent scattering reflection from the back cavity to promote high contrast. Measurement results of tilt angle versus applied magnetic field correspond well with theoretical model prediction. The designed device is suitable for optical telecommunication in harsh environments that do not permit any electrical sparks.
Keywords :
etching; micro-optomechanical devices; micromirrors; microswitches; optical design techniques; optical fabrication; optical switches; silicon-on-insulator; BOX layer thickness; SOI wafer; Si; back cavity; backside deep silicon etching; die level; electrical sparks; electromagnetically actuated MEMS mirror; electromagnetically actuated optical switch; mechanical stoppers; optical design; optical fabrication; optical telecommunication; scattering reflection; size 4 mum; textured silicon encapsulation; tilt angle control; Magnetic field measurement; Magnetic hysteresis; Magnetic resonance; Mirrors; Optical switches; Silicon; Soft magnetic materials;
Conference_Titel :
Optical MEMS and Nanophotonics (OMN), 2013 International Conference on
Conference_Location :
Kanazawa
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4799-1512-5
DOI :
10.1109/OMN.2013.6659062