Design and fabrication of a circular digital variable optical attenuator

Winston Sun; Junaid Mughal; Frank Perez; Nabeel A. Riza; Wilfried Noell; Nicolaas F. de Rooij

doi:10.1117/12.544997

16 August 2004 Design and fabrication of a circular digital variable optical attenuator

Winston Sun, Junaid Mughal, Frank Perez, Nabeel A. Riza, Wilfried Noell, Nicolaas F. de Rooij

Proceedings Volume 5455, MEMS, MOEMS, and Micromachining; (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.544997
Event: Photonics Europe, 2004, Strasbourg, France

Abstract

The second generation circular digital variable optical attenuator (CDVOA) with an effective area of 1500 μm diameter has been designed and fabricated based on SOI technology. C-band incoming Gaussian light can be reflected to an outgoing fiber from a shiny circular area, which is divided into sectors that can be individually tilted and addressed electrostatically to achieve variable light attenuation. Using a delay mask process, each movable component i) has an underlying ridge frame to maintain flatness, ii) is suspended by two micro beams at a bridge structure that connects to a handle where aluminum electrode is located underneath, and iii) is separated by wall structures at the handle area to reduce crosstalk from adjacent electrodes. Critical fabrication processes including the mirror and chip release are performed using a HF vapor phase etcher. Fluidic pressure and chip-dicing shocks are avoided. Initial results show that a mirror sector suspended by two 345 μm long beams with a cross-section of about 5×5 μm² can be tilted to 2.8° at about 18 V driving voltage. Initial interferometric measurement gives estimated individual mirror flatness after metallic reflective coating to be about λ/15. The assembled chips are ready for further testing and characterization.

Citation Download Citation

Winston Sun, Junaid Mughal, Frank Perez, Nabeel A. Riza, Wilfried Noell, and Nicolaas F. de Rooij "Design and fabrication of a circular digital variable optical attenuator", Proc. SPIE 5455, MEMS, MOEMS, and Micromachining, (16 August 2004); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.544997

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available