Micromachined three-dimensional tunable Fabry-Perot etalons

Abstract

We report on novel 3D tunable Fabry-Perot etalons fabricated by surface micromachining technique. The Fabry-Perot etalons are tuned by rotation or translation movements. For the Fabry-Perot etalon tuned by rotational movement, the Fabry-Perot etalon is integrated with a rotational stage and the effective light path distance is adjusted by rotating the stage. The transmission peak wavelength shift (Delta) (lambda) p of 32 nm has been observed for tuning angle (Delta) (Theta) equal to 70 degrees. For the Fabry-Perot etalon tuned by linear translation, two mirrors consitituting the etalon are integrated with translational stages. The stage consists of a slider constrained by flanges along the two edges so that only translational movement along the optical axis is allowed. By changing the distance between two mirrors for 2.25 micrometers , a transmission peak wavelength shift (Delta) (lambda) p of 103 nm has been achieved. The 3D Fabry-Perot etalons can be easily extended to integrate with other micro- optical elements fabricated in a similar way. Furthermore, fiber-to-fiber coupling will be easy with this 3D approach. The 3D tunable Fabry-Perot etalon is another successful demonstration of the free-space micro-optical bench (FS-MOB) technology we have proposed previously.