Micro-electromechanical systems variable optical attenuator based on nonsilicon surface micromachining technology

Xuhan Dai; Xiaolin Zhao; Guifu Ding; Bingchu Cai

doi:10.1117/1.2750653

1 April 2007 Micro-electromechanical systems variable optical attenuator based on nonsilicon surface micromachining technology

Xuhan Dai, Xiaolin Zhao, Guifu Ding, Bingchu Cai

Author Affiliations +

Journal of Micro/Nanolithography, MEMS, and MOEMS, Vol. 6, Issue 2, 023010 (April 2007). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.2750653

Abstract

A novel, electromagnetically driven variable fiber optic attenuator based on micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) technology is described. The attenuation level is adjusted by changing the microshutter position in the optical path. A new technique, termed "nonsilicon surface micromachining," is used to fabricate the shutter, in which a copper layer was used as the sacrificial layer, and the electroplated FeNi as the structure layer. This scheme provides another way to fabricate the optical microstructure. The optical characteristics of the attenuator are theoretically analyzed, and the result is verified by experiments. The MEMS attenuator has fiber-to-fiber insertion loss less than 3 dB at 1550-nm wavelength, dynamic range greater than 40 dB, 0.2-dB repeatability, and return loss better than 40 dB.

©(2007) Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)

Citation Download Citation

Xuhan Dai, Xiaolin Zhao, Guifu Ding, and Bingchu Cai "Micro-electromechanical systems variable optical attenuator based on nonsilicon surface micromachining technology," Journal of Micro/Nanolithography, MEMS, and MOEMS 6(2), 023010 (1 April 2007). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.2750653

Published: 1 April 2007

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