Micro-optical phased arrays for spatial and spectral switching

Abstract

This article describes two optical devices based on linear arrays of micromirrors. The first is a phased array of micromirrors that can be rotated as well as translated vertically to maintain coherence across the array. We demonstrate experimentally that such micromirrors are capable of high-diffraction-efficiency phased-array scanning of laser beams. The second device is a Gires-Tournois (1969) interferometer with a micromirror array that provides tunable phase modulation for the multitude of partially reflected beams within the interferometer. We demonstrate experimentally that the MEMS-GT interferometer can operate as a tunable deinterleaver for dense wavelength-division multiplexed fiber optic communication.