Discrete wavelength tunable laser using microelectromechanical systems technology

Zhang, Xuming; Liu, A. Q.; Tang, Ding; Lu, Chao

doi:10.1063/1.1639130

Cited by 60 publications

(65 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Indeed, several micro-OBs with comparable optical paths have been reported in the literature in which integrating the 3D micromirror would reduce the optical losses or overcome the need for lensed fibers. [13][14][15][16]18,[38][39][40][41] It is also possible to incorporate multiple 3D mirrors with different radii of curvature on the same SOI substrate. The latter can be implemented either by exploiting the RIE-lag effect 36 or by the sequential application of the presented method while protecting the already-etched mirrors by the sidewall protection technique mentioned previously.…”

Section: D Micromirror Fabricationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…By contrast, free-space coupling elements are usually designed to mitigate optical beam divergence phenomena associated with Gaussian beam (GB) propagation and achieve phase/mode matching. [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] Photonic applications in which the sources and destinations are separated by a free-space optical path (OP) such as fiber to fiber, 4 laser to fiber, 5-7 photonic crystal to fiber, 8 waveguide to fiber, [9][10][11] laser to laser [12][13][14][15][16] and intra chip coupling 17 have been reported. In many applications, a high coupling efficiency over a relatively long OP, within the submillimeter range and sometimes extending up to the centimeter range, is critical.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…13,23 The allowable OP was limited to tens of micrometers by the rapid decay of the coupling efficiency. This decay is caused by optical beam divergence, as shown in Figure 1a and 1b.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Silicon micromirrors with three-dimensional curvature enabling lensless efficient coupling of free-space light

et al. 2013

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Miniaturized optical benches process free-space light propagating in-plane with respect to the substrate and have a large variety of applications, including the coupling of light through an optical fiber. High coupling efficiency is usually obtained using assembled micro-optical parts, which considerably increase the system cost and integration effort. In this work, we report a high coupling efficiency, monolithically integrated silicon micromirror with controlled three-dimensional (3D) curvature that is capable of manipulating optical beams propagating in the plane of the silicon substrate. Based on our theoretical modeling, a spherical micromirror with a microscale radius of curvature as small as twice the Gaussian beam Rayleigh range provides a 100% coupling efficiency over a relatively long optical path range. Introducing dimensionless parameters facilitates the elucidation of the role of key design parameters, including the mirror's radii of curvature, independent of the wavelength. A micromachining method is presented for fabricating the 3D micromirror using fluorinated gas plasmas. The measured coupling efficiency was greater than 50% over a 200-mm optical path, compared to less than 10% afforded by a conventional flat micromirror, which was in good agreement with the model. Using the 3D micromirror, an optical cavity was formed with a round-trip diffraction loss of less than 0.4%, resulting in one order of magnitude enhancement in the measured quality factor. A nearly 100% coupling was also estimated when matching the sagittal and tangential radii of curvature of the presented micromirror's surface. The reported class of 3D micromirrors may be an advantageous replacement for the optical lenses usually assembled in silicon photonics and optical benches by transforming them into real 3D monolithic systems while achieving wideband high coupling efficiency over submillimeter distances.

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Section: D Micromirror Fabricationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Silicon micromirrors with three-dimensional curvature enabling lensless efficient coupling of free-space light

et al. 2013

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“…We report here ECTL as a main stream technology in a tunable laser due to its advantages of simple configuration, small device dimensions, high tuning speed, wide tuning range, spectrum purity and high power. There are types of external cavities introduces wide tuning range but suffers from large device dimensions such as Littrow and Littman configurations which the tuning is achieved by rotating and translating an external grating simultaneously [8][9]. The rapid progress of the MEMS technology allows for miniaturization of a bulky tunable laser, improvement of the tuning speed and the mechanical reliability at lower fabrication cost.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Dual Cylindrical Tunable Laser Based on MEMS

Fawzy¹,

Elghandour²,

Hamed³

2016

ijacsa

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Abstract-Free space optics is considered the topic of the day and have a large variety of applications which free space separates source from destination such as External cavity tunable laser (ECTL). In ECTL, laser source emits Gaussian beam that propagates in plane with substrate until reach external reflector. The efficiency of these applications depends on the amount of light that coupled back to the laser, called coupling efficiency. Increasing coupling efficiency depends on using assembled lens's or any optical part in the path between laser front facet and external reflector, which result in increasing the cost and integration effort. We innovate here anew configuration of external cavity tunable laser based on cylindrical (curved) Mirrors. The usage of cylindrical mirror affects on the amount of light that coupled back to laser and that decreases the alignment requirement in the laser assembly as compared to another configurations based on flat mirror. The fabrication of cylindrical mirror is simple with respect to spherical mirror so it can be used in batch fabrication. Tuning achieved by using micro electro mechanical system MEMS technology. The system consists of a laser cavity and a two filter cavities for wavelength selection. The formation of cylindrical microstructures were made into the substrate volume. So we report also the micromachining method that used for fabricating the cylindrical mirror. Anisotropic etching and the deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) are especially useful for the batch fabrication of large optical mechanical devices. The characteristics of the laser's spectral response versus laser facet reflectance variations are described via simulations. The diffraction of light in ECTL formed by the laser front facet and the external reflector are taken into account. Here we report all things about the model including the fabrication steps and simulation analysis.

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“…These advantages have been exploited in wavelength tuning of microchip lasers [1,2] and fiber lasers [3] where the MEMS devices have been used as both intracavity and extracavity elements. In addition, MEMS scanning micromirrors appear as viable alternatives to acousto-or electro-optic modulators for Q-switched or mode-locked laser sources.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Dual Q-switched laser outputs from a single lasing medium using an intracavity MEMS micromirror array

2012

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This version is available at https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/41056/ Strathprints is designed to allow users to access the research output of the University of Strathclyde. Unless otherwise explicitly stated on the manuscript, Copyright © and Moral Rights for the papers on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. Please check the manuscript for details of any other licences that may have been applied. You may not engage in further distribution of the material for any profitmaking activities or any commercial gain. You may freely distribute both the url (https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/) and the content of this paper for research or private study, educational, or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge.Any correspondence concerning this service should be sent to the Strathprints administrator: strathprints@strath.ac.ukThe Strathprints institutional repository (https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk) is a digital archive of University of Strathclyde research outputs. It has been developed to disseminate open access research outputs, expose data about those outputs, and enable the management and persistent access to Strathclyde's intellectual output.Dual Q-switched laser outputs from a single lasing medium using an intracavity MEMS micromirror array An intracavity array of individually controlled microelectromechanical system scanning micromirrors was used to actively Q-switch a single side-pumped Nd:YAG gain medium. Two equal power independent laser outputs were simultaneously obtained by separate actuation of two adjacent micromirrors with a combined average output power of 125 mW. Pulse durations of 28 ns FWHM at 8.7 kHz repetition frequency and 34 ns FWHM at 7.9 kHz repetition frequency were observed for the two output beams with beam quality factors M 2 of 1.2 and 1.1 and peak powers of 253 W and 232 W, respectively.

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Discrete wavelength tunable laser using microelectromechanical systems technology

Cited by 60 publications

References 10 publications

Silicon micromirrors with three-dimensional curvature enabling lensless efficient coupling of free-space light

Silicon micromirrors with three-dimensional curvature enabling lensless efficient coupling of free-space light

A Dual Cylindrical Tunable Laser Based on MEMS

Dual Q-switched laser outputs from a single lasing medium using an intracavity MEMS micromirror array

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