Toward the Development of Hybrid MEMS Tunable Optical Filters and Lasers

M.C. Harvey^1,4, E.M. Ochoa^2,3, J.A. Lott², T.R. Nelson¹, Jr.

¹Air Force Research Laboratory, Sensors Directorate, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH 45433

²Air Force Institute of Technology Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH 45433

³Air force Research Laboratory, Space Vehicles Directorate, Kirtland AFB, NM 87117

⁴Space and Missile Systems Center, Detachment 3, Peterson AFB, CO 80914

Keywords: Flip-chip integration, tunable vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers, tunable optical filters, MEMS devices, plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition; molecular beam epitaxy, Bragg mirror

Abstract

There is strong interest in the development of tunable lasers and optical filters for a number of optoelectronic applications. From a telecommunications standpoint, compact, efficient, and affordable tunable sources and filters could find immediate widespread use for wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) systems, enabling incredibly dense optoelectronic communications over a single optical fiber. From a military standpoint, robust tunable sources would readily be inserted into platforms requiring fixed-wavelength optical pumps (such as for fiber amplifiers or atomic clock systems) or for hyperspectral imaging systems that require stable, pixilated filter elements.

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