Jürgen Mohr

Optoelectromechanical switch array with passively aligned free-space optical components

An all-optical switch array with micro mirrors driven by electrostatic micro motors has been developed in a LIGA-technique. The system has been designed for single mode application at the telecommunication wavelength of 1.55 /spl mu/m. All fixed optical components are passively aligned inside a LIGA-structured micro optical bench. The signals are detoured inside the optical bench by means of micro mirrors, which are attached to micro wobble motors. In order to avoid angular displacements of the deflected light beams double mirrors are used. First, prototypes with 2 input and output ports have been realized. Two of these 2 /spl times/ 2 switch matrices have been integrated on a 10 /spl times/ 10 mm/sup 2/ ceramic substrate with six micro motors of 1.7 mm diameter. Switching times down to 30 ms have been achieved. The crosstalk between different channels is 90 dB. The insertion loss with passive alignment of the optical elements yielded 3 dB with a repeatability better than /spl plusmn/0.3 dB.

Polymer technologies: a way to low-cost micro-optical components and systems

The need for low cost micro optical devices is increasing thru all application fields like tele- and data-communication, industrial automation, displays, automobile, sensor applications etc. Polymer technologies can follow this demand due to the possibility of mass fabrication by replication techniques. Various technologies have been developed in the past to fulfill the demanding requests given by the use of micro structures in optical applications. Part of them are already used in industrial manufacturing. Also demanding products are introduced into the market. In the paper we will give an overview of the relevant techniques and demonstrate their possibilities by a few product examples.

Nontactile reliability testing of a micro optical attenuator

The reliability investigations presented in this paper have been performed on a micro opto electro mechanical switch developed for switching and attenuation of light propagation in optical fibers. It is demonstrated that high-speed cine photomicrography together with model based evaluation of the image sequences is a powerful diagnostic tool for reliability testing of dynamic processes in micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS).

Testing and improvement of micro-optical-switch dynamics

Abstract The experimental and theoretical investigations presented in this paper have been performed on a micro-opto-electro-mechanical switch developed for switching and attenuation of light in optical fibers. It is demonstrated that high-speed cine photomicrography together with model-based evaluation of the image sequences is a powerful diagnostic tool for reliability testing of dynamic processes in micro-electro-mechanical systems.

Development of a Micro-Optical Distance Sensor with Electrical I/O Interface

A micro-optical distance sensor has been developed by a combination of LIGA technology and Si micro machining in order to meet industrial demands for miniaturization. The function of the distance sensor is based on the triangulation principle.

Single mode field analysis and adjustment on polymer waveguides understanding the reasons for coupling losses

Integrated optic single mode waveguides in polymer substrates are of interest for several applications especially in the visible wavelength range e.g. to build waveguide components for biophotonic, sensors or passive splitters. The manufacturing process contains DUV or UV lithography and some different pre or post exposure bakes depending on the used type of polymer. Chromium masks offer facile and controllable processing and rapid exposure times. Surface waveguides can be covered with an index matched cladding substrate on top to get buried light guiding. The end faces and also the over all thickness of about 1 mm of the component packages gives the possibility for a stable coupling between fiber arrays and planar waveguide substrates. The paper describes the results of a single mode field analysis and the experimental adjustment of polymer waveguides for wavelengths within the visible range of light to achieve low coupling losses. Some different manufacturing process steps are compared depending on the used polymer material. A comparison between the measured waveguides and fiber mode near field diameters and the nominal calculated numerical apertures are presented. The different insertion loss is measured and illustrated as well.