Design and fabrication of a MEMS thermal actuator for 3D optical switching applications

This paper presents a novel thermally-actuated vertical micromirror for optical communications. Fabricated in a standard surface micromachining process, this micromirror can achieve low insertion loss (< 1 dB) and is capable of operating at CMOS-compatible voltage levels. It has a measured maximu...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Varona, J., Tecpoyotl-Torres, M., Escobedo-Alatorre, J., Hamoui, A.A.
Format: Conference Proceeding
Language:English
Subjects:
Actuators
Fabrication
Heat transfer
Micromirrors
Optical device fabrication
Optical switches
Thermal expansion
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Request full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This paper presents a novel thermally-actuated vertical micromirror for optical communications. Fabricated in a standard surface micromachining process, this micromirror can achieve low insertion loss (< 1 dB) and is capable of operating at CMOS-compatible voltage levels. It has a measured maximum power consumption of only 50-mW and a switching speed in the order of 16 ms with 5-V drive.
ISSN:1099-4742
2376-8614
DOI:10.1109/LEOSST.2008.4590474