Alignment and fixing of fiber optics based on electrothermal MEMS actuators

Author

Unamuno, A. ; Yao, J. ; Uttamchandani, D.

Author_Institution

Electr. Eng.. Microsystems Group, Univ. of Strathclyde, UK

Volume

17

Issue

4

fYear

2005

fDate

4/1/2005 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

816

Lastpage

818

Abstract

An aligning and fixing method for fiber optics is described in this letter. The alignment is performed using a chevron-type thermal microactuator while the fixing is achieved by ultraviolet curing of an epoxy adhesive once the optical fibers are aligned. The microactuator has been extended so that the heaters and the optical adhesive are separated to avoid curing of the adhesive by temperature. A prototype has been fabricated using 80-μm-thick metallized silicon-on-insulator and mechanical and optical results from the alignment of two bare single-mode optical fibers before, during, and after the fixing are presented.

Keywords

curing; integrated optics; micro-optics; microactuators; optical design techniques; optical fibre couplers; optical fibre fabrication; optical fibre losses; 80 mum; chevron-type thermal microactuator; electrothermal MEMS actuators; metallized silicon-on-insulator; optical adhesive; single-mode optical fibers; ultraviolet curing; Actuators; Curing; Electrothermal effects; Metallization; Microactuators; Micromechanical devices; Optical fibers; Prototypes; Silicon on insulator technology; Temperature; Microactuator; microelectromechanical systems (MEMS); microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) assembly; microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) packaging; microoptoelectromechanical systems;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Photonics Technology Letters, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1041-1135

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/LPT.2005.844006

Filename

1411886