Electrothermally actuated large displacement waveguides

Abstract

A waveguide structure is designed and fabricated to provide a path for propagating light from device substrate to a movable mirror plate. The device is constructed with three pairs of electrothermal actuators that enable vertical motion with ultralow lateral shift. The actuators enable actuation of the waveguide over 56μm at only 1.2V from an initial displacement of 217μm. The measured resistance of the actuator pairs is 52Ω, and the device consumes a maximum power of 75mW with all actuator pairs at peak power.