A Photomicrodynamic System with a Mechanical Resonator Monolithically Integrated with Laser Diodes on Gallium Arsenide
Hiroo Ukita 1,
Yuji Uenishi 1, and
Hidenao Tanaka 1
1 NTT Interdisciplinary Research Laboratories, 9-11 Midori-cho 3-Chome, Musashino-shi, Tokyo 180, Japan
A cantilever resonant microbeam, laser diodes, and a photodiode have been fabricated on the surface of a gallium arsenide substrate. The microbeam is excited photothermally by light from a laser diode. The vibration is detected with a photodiode as the variation in light output caused by the difference in optical length between the microbeam and another laser diode. A high carrier-to-noise ratio (45 decibels) is achieved with a short (3 micrometers) external cavity length. Such a small distance allows a lensless system, which increases the ease of fabrication. This work could lead to applications in which photomicrodynamic systems are monolithically integrated on a gallium arsenide substrate with surface micromachining technology.
Submitted on September 29, 1992
Accepted on February 2, 1993
