A 5-volt operated MEMS variable optical attenuator

Abstract

We report a micro mechanical variable optical attenuator (VOA) using an electrostatic micro torsion mirror combined with a fiber-optic collimator. The VOA operates at low voltages (DC 5 V or less) for large optical attenuation (40 dB) and fast response time (5 ms or faster). The mirror has been designed to be shock-resistive up to 100 G without causing operation error and up to 500G without any mechanical failure. We also have suppressed temperature dependence of VOA's optical performance by mechanically decoupling the parasitic bimorph effect from the electrostatic operation.