Process development, design, and characterization of high-finesse micromachined optical Fabry-Perot microcavities

Marcel W. Pruessner; Todd H. Stievater; William S. Rabinovich

doi:10.1117/12.705901

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12 February 2007 Process development, design, and characterization of high-finesse micromachined optical Fabry-Perot microcavities

Marcel W. Pruessner, Todd H. Stievater, William S. Rabinovich

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Proceedings Volume 6464, MEMS/MOEMS Components and Their Applications IV; 64640N (2007) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.705901
Event: MOEMS-MEMS 2007 Micro and Nanofabrication, 2007, San Jose, California, United States

Abstract

Micromachined waveguide Fabry-Perot cavities are demonstrated. The devices are fabricated in silicon-on-insulator using a cryogenic dry-etch process, enabling large aspect ratios with high verticality and low surface roughness (⩽10 nm). Details of the process development are presented with emphasis on our specific device application. The Fabry-Perot cavities consist of shallow-etched rib waveguides and deep-etched silicon/air distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) mirrors. The high-index-contrast mirrors enable large reflectance with only a few mirror periods. High Q-factor (Q≈27,000) and large finesse (F≈500) were measured. We demonstrate thermo-optic tuning over &Dgr;&lgr;=6.7 nm and also examine modulation of the cavity (f=150 kHz). Future improvements and application areas of this device are discussed.

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Marcel W. Pruessner, Todd H. Stievater, and William S. Rabinovich "Process development, design, and characterization of high-finesse micromachined optical Fabry-Perot microcavities", Proc. SPIE 6464, MEMS/MOEMS Components and Their Applications IV, 64640N (12 February 2007); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.705901

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