A micromachined thermo-optic tunable laser

H. Cai; B. Liu; Xuming Zhang; W. M. Zhu; J. Tamil; W. Zhang; Q. X. Zhang; A. Q. Liu

doi:10.1109/MEMSYS.2009.4805561

A micromachined thermo-optic tunable laser

H. Cai, B. Liu, Xuming Zhang, W. M. Zhu, J. Tamil, W. Zhang, Q. X. Zhang, A. Q. Liu

Research output: Journal article publication › Conference article › Academic research › peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The paper presents a thermo-optic tunable laser that makes use of a micromachined etalon to form the external cavity. The wavelength tuning is obtained by the thermo-optic effect of the silicon material. In experiment, a wavelength tuning range of 14 nm is demonstrated by applying a heating current of 18.7 mA to a deep-etched silicon etalon of 206 μm wide. In the dynamic test, this laser measures a tuning speed of 3.2 μs, which is much faster than the typical speed of 1 ms as given by the previous MEMS tunable lasers that rely on the motion of mirrors or gratings. Since this laser is based on a different tuning mechanism of thermo-optic effect and requires no mechanical movement, it possesses many advantages such as fast speed, simple configuration and planar structure, and will broaden the applications of MEMS tunable lasers.

Original language	English
Article number	4805561
Pages (from-to)	1027-1030
Number of pages	4
Journal	Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS)
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/MEMSYS.2009.4805561
Publication status	Published - 1 Jun 2009
Externally published	Yes
Event	22nd IEEE International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems, MEMS 2009 - Sorrento, Italy Duration: 25 Jan 2009 → 29 Jan 2009

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Condensed Matter Physics
Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials

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10.1109/MEMSYS.2009.4805561

Cite this

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AU - Liu, B.

AU - Zhang, Xuming

AU - Zhu, W. M.

AU - Tamil, J.

AU - Zhang, W.

AU - Zhang, Q. X.

AU - Liu, A. Q.

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AB - The paper presents a thermo-optic tunable laser that makes use of a micromachined etalon to form the external cavity. The wavelength tuning is obtained by the thermo-optic effect of the silicon material. In experiment, a wavelength tuning range of 14 nm is demonstrated by applying a heating current of 18.7 mA to a deep-etched silicon etalon of 206 μm wide. In the dynamic test, this laser measures a tuning speed of 3.2 μs, which is much faster than the typical speed of 1 ms as given by the previous MEMS tunable lasers that rely on the motion of mirrors or gratings. Since this laser is based on a different tuning mechanism of thermo-optic effect and requires no mechanical movement, it possesses many advantages such as fast speed, simple configuration and planar structure, and will broaden the applications of MEMS tunable lasers.

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A micromachined thermo-optic tunable laser

Abstract

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