MEMS laser with tunable wavelength and polarization using optical tunneling effect

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

doi:10.1109/MEMSYS.2009.4805549

MEMS laser with tunable wavelength and polarization using optical tunneling effect

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

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

Abstract

This paper presents a micromachined tunable laser that utilizes a silicon optical tunneling structure to tune both the polarization state and the wavelength of the laser output. The device is fabricated on silicon-on-insulator wafer using deep reactive ion etching. In experiment, the wavelength and the polarization are tuned by heating up the silicon optical tunneling structure via the thermo-optic effect. A 90° change of polarization direction is obtained using a heating current of 61.2 mA, and a wavelength tuning of 2 nm is also demonstrated. The output spectrum shows a high suppress ratio above 30 dB. Compared with the previous MEMS tunable lasers that have a random or fixed polarization state, this device provides a special capability in tuning the polarization state in addition to the wavelength, and would find niche applications in biomedical research, interferometry, coherent communications, instrumentations and sensors.

Original language	English
Article number	4805549
Pages (from-to)	979-982
Number of pages	4
Journal	Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS)
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/MEMSYS.2009.4805549
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

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

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10.1109/MEMSYS.2009.4805549

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abstract = "This paper presents a micromachined tunable laser that utilizes a silicon optical tunneling structure to tune both the polarization state and the wavelength of the laser output. The device is fabricated on silicon-on-insulator wafer using deep reactive ion etching. In experiment, the wavelength and the polarization are tuned by heating up the silicon optical tunneling structure via the thermo-optic effect. A 90° change of polarization direction is obtained using a heating current of 61.2 mA, and a wavelength tuning of 2 nm is also demonstrated. The output spectrum shows a high suppress ratio above 30 dB. Compared with the previous MEMS tunable lasers that have a random or fixed polarization state, this device provides a special capability in tuning the polarization state in addition to the wavelength, and would find niche applications in biomedical research, interferometry, coherent communications, instrumentations and sensors.",

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AU - Zhu, W. M.

AU - Zhang, Xuming

AU - Cai, H.

AU - Tamil, J.

AU - Zhang, W.

AU - Liu, B.

AU - Bourouina, T.

AU - Liu, A. Q.

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AB - This paper presents a micromachined tunable laser that utilizes a silicon optical tunneling structure to tune both the polarization state and the wavelength of the laser output. The device is fabricated on silicon-on-insulator wafer using deep reactive ion etching. In experiment, the wavelength and the polarization are tuned by heating up the silicon optical tunneling structure via the thermo-optic effect. A 90° change of polarization direction is obtained using a heating current of 61.2 mA, and a wavelength tuning of 2 nm is also demonstrated. The output spectrum shows a high suppress ratio above 30 dB. Compared with the previous MEMS tunable lasers that have a random or fixed polarization state, this device provides a special capability in tuning the polarization state in addition to the wavelength, and would find niche applications in biomedical research, interferometry, coherent communications, instrumentations and sensors.

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JO - Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS)

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T2 - 22nd IEEE International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems, MEMS 2009

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MEMS laser with tunable wavelength and polarization using optical tunneling effect

Abstract

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