An 8 mm/sup 3/ digitally steered laser beam transmitter

Abstract

Summary form only given. A laser transmitter for free-space laser communications has been built and tested. This system consists of an edge-emitting diode laser, a ball lens, and a micromachined mirror actuated using two 4-bit mechanical digital-to-analog converters. The mirror and actuators are fabricated in Crones Microsystem's MUMPS process. The ball lens is assembled using a set of micro-tweezers from MEMS Precision Instruments controlled with a Sutter Instruments MP285 robotic xyz positioner. The laser diode was donated by SDL inc. and emits red (650nm) light. This work includes the demonstration of the first two degree-of-freedom micromirror actuated with mechanical digital to analog converters and its use in a system consisting of a laser diode, ball lens and micromirror.