SURFACE MICROMACHINED TUNABLE INTERFEROMETER ARRAY

The development of compact light modulators integrated on the same chip as the signal processing opens many opportunities for combining inter-chip optical communications with standard silicon circuitry. The use of surface micromachining allows high speed of operation and small size integration with other circuitry. The optical and mechanical requirements for the devices also have to be considered, to ensure compatibility with standard silicon processing. A surface micromachining process, using an oxide sacrificial layer and poly/nitride/poly membranes, has been developed. This paper presents the optical and mechanical considerations in the development of a compact micromachined silicon Fabry-Perot interferometer. Initial tests have shown that these micromachined membranes represent a compact and effective light modulating method.