Dayong Qiao

MEMS-based tunable gratings and their applications

The marriage of optics and MEMS has resulted in a new category of optical devices and systems that have unprecedented advantages compared with their traditional counterparts. As an important spatial light modulating technology, diffractive optical MEMS obtains a wide variety of successful commercial applications, e.g. projection displays, optical communication and spectral analysis, due to its features of highly compact, low-cost, IC-compatible, excellent performance, and providing possibilities for developing totally new, yet smart devices and systems. Three most successful MEMS diffraction gratings (GLVs, Polychromator and DMDs) are briefly introduced and their potential applications are analyzed. Then, three different MEMS tunable gratings developed by our group, named as micro programmable blazed gratings (μPBGs) and micro pitch-tunable gratings (μPTGs) working in either digital or analog mode, are demonstrated. The strategies to largely enhance the maximum blazed angle and grating period are described. Some preliminary application explorations based on the developed grating devices are also shown. For our ongoing research focus, we will further improve the device performance to meet the engineering application requirements.

Design and simulation of microspectrometer based on torsional MEMS grating

Micro-opto-electro-mechanical systems (MOEMS) has prominent advantages over conventional optical devices, such as smaller, lighter, more stable, lower cost and power consumption. It has been widely applied in the last few years. This paper presents a micro spectrometer based on torsional MEMS grating with micromachining process. As a diffractive component in the micro spectrometer, the torsional MEMS grating is actuated by electrostatic force to scan the spectrum. In contrast to common linear detector arrays with stationary diffraction grating and non-fixed grating rotated by stepper motor to scan spectrum used in most micro spectrometer, MEMS-based spectrometer is dynamically controllable, and has no mechanical moving parts with small size. ZEMAX is used for design, optimization, and simulation analysis of the micro spectrometer with multi-configurations in the cross Czerny-Turner optical system. The results indicate that torsional MEMS grating operates at a torsion angle of ±3 degree, the spectrometer can scan spectral range of 800-1600nm in NIR (near infrared), spectral resolution is around 10 nm, and the whole spectrometer has a volume of 80mm×55mm×30mm. The study provides an initial theoretical foundation for the further development and design.

Comparative study on different types of segmented micro deformable mirrors

In an adaptive-optical (AO) system, the wavefront of optical beam can be corrected with deformable mirror (DM). Based on MicroElectroMechanical System (MEMS) technology, segmented micro deformable mirrors can be built with denser actuator spacing than continuous face-sheet designs and have been widely researched. But the influence of the segment structure has not been thoroughly discussed until now. In this paper, the design, performance and fabrication of several micromachined, segmented deformable mirror for AO were investigated. The wavefront distorted by atmospheric turbulence was simulated in the frame of Kolmogorov turbulence model. Position function was used to describe the surfaces of the micro deformable mirrors in working state. The performances of deformable mirrors featuring square, brick, hexagonal and ring segment structures were evaluated in criteria of phase fitting error, the Strehl ratio after wavefront correction and the design considerations. Then the micro fabrication process and mask layout were designed and the fabrication of micro deformable mirrors was implemented. The results show that the micro deformable mirror with ring segments performs the best, but it is very difficult in terms of layout design. The micro deformable mirrors with square and brick segments are easy to design, but their performances are not good. The micro deformable mirror with hexagonal segments has not only good performance in terms of phase fitting error, the Strehl ratio and actuation voltage, but also no overwhelming difficulty in layout design.

Effects of residual stresses on mechanical properties of segmented micro deformable mirrors

Effects of residual stresses on mechanical properties such as voltage vs. displacement response, pull-in voltage and structural resonant frequency of segmented micro deformable mirrors were investigated with both finite element method (FEM) and analytical method. A simplified model was adopted to study the structural spring constant on the existence of residual stress and two methods for imposing residual stress on structures were utilized for the purpose. Both results of analytical method and FEM show that larger structural spring constant can be obtained by introducing tensile residual stress. Consequently, mechanical properties relevant to spring constant are also greatly affected. The higher the tensile residual stress is, the stronger the structural stiffness will be. That means in order to induce the same structural displacement of mirror plate as stress-free state, higher voltage is demanded. Meanwhile, with higher tensile residual stress, larger pull-in voltage and greater structural resonant frequency are achieved. For the situation of compressive residual stress, totally the opposite influences can be observed. In conclusion, residual stress (no matter tensile or compressive) can greatly affect the mechanical properties of segmented micro deformable mirrors. Accurate control of it is needed for optimizing the structural design and improving the performance of devices.