Bimorph actuators in thick SiO2 for photonic alignment

Kai Wu*, Tjitte Jelte Peters, Marcel Tichem, Ferry Postma, Albert Prak, Kerstin Wörhoff, Arne Leinse

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceedings/Edited volumeConference contributionScientificpeer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)
128 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

This paper proposes and tests a design of electro-thermal bimorph actuators for alignment of flexible photonic waveguides fabricated in 16 μm thick SiO2. The actuators are for use in a novel alignment concept for multi-port photonic integrated circuits (PICs), in which the fine alignment is taken care of by positioning of suspended, mechanically flexible waveguide beams on one or more of the PICs. The design parameters of the bimorph actuator allow to tune both the initial relative position of the waveguide end-facets, and the motion range of the actuators. Bimorph actuators have been fabricated and characterized. The maximum out-of-plane deflection of the bimorph actuator (with 720 μm-long poly-Si) can reach 18:5 μm with 126:42mW, sufficient for the proposed application.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationOptical Interconnects XVI
EditorsHenning Schröder, Ray T. Chen
Place of PublicationBellingham, WA, USA
PublisherSPIE
Number of pages10
Volume9753
ISBN (Electronic)978-1-628419887
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2016
EventOptical Interconnects XVI - San Francisco, United States
Duration: 15 Feb 201617 Feb 2016

Publication series

NameProceedings of SPIE
Volume9753
ISSN (Electronic)1605-7422

Conference

ConferenceOptical Interconnects XVI
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CitySan Francisco
Period15/02/1617/02/16

Keywords

  • bimorph actuators
  • out-of-plane deection
  • poly-Si
  • short-loop
  • SiO MEMS

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