Silicon-based tunable optical thin-film filters
Conference: Mikrosystemtechnik Kongress 2005 - Mikrosystemtechnik Kongress 2005
10/10/2005 - 10/12/2005 at Munich, Germany
Proceedings: Mikrosystemtechnik Kongress 2005
Pages: 4Language: englishTyp: PDF
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Authors:
Hohlfeld, D.; Zappe, H. (Laboratory for Micro-optics, Institute of Microsystem Technology, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität, Georges-Koehler-Allee 102, 79110 Freiburg, Germany)
Abstract:
A MEMS-based tunable optical filter is presented. The filter consists of two distributed Bragg reflectors (DBR) with a solid-state silicon cavity in between. Tuning is achieved by varying the cavity’s refractive index through thermal modulation. The fabricated of the optical filter is completely based on plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD). Microsystem technology is employed to miniaturize the device and improve its functionality. Such a filter is essential for monitoring and reconfiguration of optical data communication networks and is also applicable to gas sensing. Because of its excellent optical performance the filter is already suitable for monitoring optical communication systems.