Surface micromachined Fabry-Perot tunable filter

Abstract

We report the fabrication of a wavelength tunable optical filter using surface micromachining technology. The center wavelength is 1.517 μm and the transmission bandwidth is 5 nm. The device with a 50-μm diameter aperture has an optical loss of about 5 dB. A continuous wavelength tuning of 60 nm has been demonstrated. This device may find applications in optical sensing and wavelength division multiplexing systems, and can be readily integrated with surface emitting lasers, modulators, and detectors.