一种微电磁驱动的MEMS可调光衰减器

介绍了一种电磁驱动型MEMS可调光衰减器,该器件通过调节微挡光片在光路中的位置控制衰减量.以铜作为牺牲层,由电镀铁镍作为结构层的非硅表面微加工微技术被应用于挡光片的制作上,此项技术与硅的体加工技术相结合有望降低器件的加工成本.此外,还分析了该可调光衰减器的衰减机理,理论计算结果与实验数据基本吻合.实验测得样机性能为,插入损耗低于3 dB,动态范围大于40 dB,回波损耗大于40 dB.

An Electro-Magnetically Driven MEMS Variable Optical Attenuator

An electromagnetically driven variable optical attenuator is described.The attenuation level is adjusted by changing the micro-shutter's position in the optical path.Non-silicon surface micromachining,which used copper layer as the sacrificial layer,and the electroplated ferronickel as the structure layer,was used to fabricate the shutter.This technology,combined with the silicon bulk micromachining technology,may reduce the fabrication cost substantially.Besides,the optical characteristics of the attenuator were theoretically analyzed;the analyzed result matches the experimental data fairly well.The MEMS attenuator has less than 3 dB fiber-to-fiber insertion loss at 1 550 nm wavelength,greater than 40 dB dynamic range,and return loss better than 40 dB.