Bimorph actuators in thick SiO2 for photonic alignment
Kai Wu (TU Delft - Micro and Nano Engineering)
Tjitte-Jelte Peters (TU Delft - Micro and Nano Engineering)
M. Tichem (TU Delft - Micro and Nano Engineering)
Ferry Postma (LioniX International BV)
Albert Prak (LioniX International BV)
Kerstin Wörhoff (LioniX International BV)
Arne Leinse (LioniX International BV)
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Abstract
This paper proposes and tests a design of electro-thermal bimorph actuators for alignment of flexible photonic waveguides fabricated in 16 μm thick SiO2. The actuators are for use in a novel alignment concept for multi-port photonic integrated circuits (PICs), in which the fine alignment is taken care of by positioning of suspended, mechanically flexible waveguide beams on one or more of the PICs. The design parameters of the bimorph actuator allow to tune both the initial relative position of the waveguide end-facets, and the motion range of the actuators. Bimorph actuators have been fabricated and characterized. The maximum out-of-plane deflection of the bimorph actuator (with 720 μm-long poly-Si) can reach 18:5 μm with 126:42mW, sufficient for the proposed application.