A Fabry-Perot microinterferometer for visible wavelengths

Author

Raley, N.F. ; Ciarlo, D.R. ; Koo, J.C. ; Beiriger, B. ; Trujillo, J. ; Yu, C. ; Loomis, G. ; Chow, R.

Author_Institution

Lawrence Livermore Nat. Lab., CA, USA

fYear

1992

fDate

22-25 June 1992

Firstpage

170

Lastpage

173

Abstract

The authors report on their efforts to develop a silicon-based microinterferometer for optical applications in the visible spectral region using micromachining fabrication techniques. The interferometer is formed by two parallel dielectric mirrors supported on membranes which are electrostatically deflected for wavelength control. A simplified two-wafer fabrication process was designed and investigated. They obtained 250 nm membrane deflection for an applied voltage of 100 V. Hafnium dioxide-silicon dioxide dielectric mirrors with high reflectivity and low stress were fabricated on membrane supports and also free-standing. Anticipated applications include microinstrument spectroscopy systems for atomic absorption, ellipsometry, imaging, optical fiber communications, and general spectrophotometer uses as well as accelerometry.<>

Keywords

elemental semiconductors; light interferometers; micromechanical devices; mirrors; optical workshop techniques; semiconductor technology; silicon; 100 V; Fabry-Perot microinterferometer; HfO/sub 2/-SiO/sub 2/; Si; accelerometry; atomic absorption; dielectric mirrors; ellipsometry; etching; imaging; integrated optics; masks; membranes; micromachining fabrication; optical fiber communications; optical resonators; parallel dielectric mirrors; spectrophotometer; spectroscopy; two-wafer fabrication; visible spectral region; Biomembranes; Dielectrics; Fabry-Perot; Hafnium; Micromachining; Mirrors; Optical device fabrication; Optical interferometry; Process design; Voltage;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Solid-State Sensor and Actuator Workshop, 1992. 5th Technical Digest., IEEE

Conference_Location

Hilton Head Island, SC, USA

Print_ISBN

0-7803-0456-X

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/SOLSEN.1992.228299

Filename

228299