Fabrication and characterization of an electrically variable, nanospring based interferometer

The authors report on an electrically variable Fabry-Perot interferometer constructed from the organic material tris (8-hydroxyquinoline ) aluminum (Alq(3)). A two-turn helical Alq(3) film with a 300 nm pitch is deposited via glancing angle deposition. Electrostatic compression of the nanosprings between parallel, partially reflective mirrors controls the peak transmission wavelength. Contact mode atomic force microscope measurements using a conductive tip indicate a spring compression of 1.2 nm when a voltage of 6 V is applied across the structure. Spectroscopic measurements show a 1.6 nm shift in the peak transmission wavelength. These results demonstrate precise control of the transmission wavelength of an electrically variable nanometer scaled interferometer. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.