Microstructuring in LiNbO3: a route to MEMS devices in piezoelectric crystal media

Robert William Eason; Ian E. Barry; Graeme W. Ross; Peter G. R. Smith; Corin B.E. Gawith

doi:10.1117/12.397924

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1 September 2000 Microstructuring in LiNbO₃: a route to MEMS devices in piezoelectric crystal media

Robert William Eason, Ian E. Barry, Graeme W. Ross, Peter G. R. Smith, Corin B.E. Gawith

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Proceedings Volume 4075, Micro-Opto-Electro-Mechanical Systems; (2000) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.397924
Event: Symposium on Applied Photonics, 2000, Glasgow, United Kingdom

Abstract

Ferroelectric materials such as LiNbO₃ and LiTaO₃ offer many potential advantages over silicon for MEMS structures and self-actuating miniature devices. These materials possess numerous useful intrinsic properties such as piezoelectricity, pyroelectric and electro-optic coefficients, enabling the construction of micro-scale cantilevers, membranes, tips and switches. So far however, reliable and accurate methods for machining and microstructuring LiNbO₃ single crystals have been lacking. We have recently been exploring several such methods, which are sensitive to ferroelectric domain orientation. A sample that has been domain-engineered shows a large difference in etch characteristics: the +z face does not etch at all, whereas the -z face etches normally. Microstructured devices can be fabricated therefore, via spatially selective domain poling followed by etching. The extreme sensitivity of the etch process to domain orientation has enabled us to fabricate ridge waveguides for electro-optic modulator applications, alignment grooves for efficient fibre pig-tailing to LiNbO₃ modulators, and micro-cantilevers using a novel technique of contact bonding of dissimilar ferroelectric hosts.

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Robert William Eason, Ian E. Barry, Graeme W. Ross, Peter G. R. Smith, and Corin B.E. Gawith "Microstructuring in LiNbO₃: a route to MEMS devices in piezoelectric crystal media", Proc. SPIE 4075, Micro-Opto-Electro-Mechanical Systems, (1 September 2000); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.397924

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