Free-space optical link by microelectromechanical system array and corner cube reflector

Author

Changping Luo ; Goossen, K.W.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Univ. of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA

Volume

17

Issue

6

fYear

2005

fDate

6/1/2005 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1316

Lastpage

1318

Abstract

We show here a laboratory demonstration of a free-space optical retrocommunication link using a laser at a wavelength of 1.064 μm. The link consists of a transmissive mechanically active antireflection switch array and a corner cube reflector. This link is 3 m long and the beam diameter at the chip is 1.5 mm. A 40% modulation has been achieved at 30-V peak-to-peak bias for a data rate of 2.5 kb/s in atmosphere. We have previously shown that the small etchant hole in the membrane causes a slower data rate, which can be fixed by operating the device in a rough vacuum.

Keywords

laser beams; micro-optics; micromechanical devices; neodymium; optical arrays; optical communication equipment; optical fabrication; optical links; optical modulation; optical switches; reflectivity; solid lasers; yttrium compounds; 1.064 mum; 1.5 mm; 2.5 kbit/s; 3 m; antireflection switch array; corner cube reflector; etchant hole; free-space optical retrocommunication link; microelectromechanical system array; Atmosphere; Biomembranes; Etching; Laboratories; Laser beams; Microelectromechanical systems; Optical arrays; Optical fiber communication; Optical modulation; Optical switches; Corner cube reflector (CCR); free-space retrocommunication; mechanically active antireflection switch (MARS); optical link; optical microelectromechanical system (MEMS);

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Photonics Technology Letters, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1041-1135

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/LPT.2005.846616

Filename

1432814