Electrostatically deformable single crystal dielectrically coated mirror

Claim 2

A resonant cavity for a laser formed by two opposing mirrors one of which is an electrostatically deformable single crystal dielectrically coated mirror comprising: a thick substrate; an insulating layer on said thick substrate, from which a central region has been removed; a thin substrate on said insulating layer having at least one polished surface on a side opposite said insulating layer,; a mirror layer on said polished surface of said thin substrate which thin substrate is substantially thicker than 10 microns and is sufficiently thick to support said mirror layer but thin enough to deform upon application of a potential between said thin and thick substrates; and at least one electrical contact adapted to provide a potential between said thick substrate and said thin substrate to cause said thin substrate to deform and thereby change the resonance of the cavity to tune the laser frequency.

Claim 3

The cavity of claim 1 wherein the thick and the thin substrates are silicon.

Claim 4

The cavity of claim 1 wherein said insulating layer further comprises at least one path extending from said central region to an outer edge of the insulating layer.

Claim 5

The cavity of claim 1 wherein the insulating layer is an oxide.

Claim 6

The cavity of claim 1 wherein the mirror layer is a multilayer dielectric stack deposited onto the polished surface of said thin layer.

Claim 7

An electrically translatable mirror comprising: a thick substrate, an insulating layer on said thick substrate from which a central region has been removed; a thin substrate on said insulating layer having at lest one polished surface on a side opposite said insulating layer, said thin substrate having a relatively thicker center portion isolated from a relatively thicker outer portion by a continuous channel portion etched into said thin substrate; a mirror layer on said polished surface of said thin substrate which thin substrate has a thickness at the relatively thicker portion which is substantially greater than 10 microns and upon application of a potential between said thin and thick substrate the center portion of the thin substrate moves toward the thick substrate in a parallel plane while the channel portions flexes; and at least one electrode adapted to provide a potential between said thick substrate and said thin substrate to cause said thin substrate to deform.

Claim 8

An electrically translatable mirror comprising: a thick substrate, an insulating layer on said thick substrate from which a central region has been removed; a thin substrate on said insulating layer having at lest one polished surface on a side opposite said insulating layer, said thin substrate having a relatively thicker center portion isolated from a relatively thicker outer portion by a continuous channel portion etched into said thin substrate; a mirror layer on said polished surface of said thin substrate which thin substrate has a thickness at the relatively thicker portion which is substantially greater than 10 microns and upon application of a potential between said thin and thick substrate the center portion of the thin substrate moves toward the thick substrate in a parallel plane while the channel portions flexes; and at least one electrode adapted to provide a potential between said thick substrate and said thin substrate to cause said thin substrate to deform.

Claim 9

The mirror of claim 6 wherein said insulating layer further comprises at least one path extending from said removed region to an outer edge of the insulating layer.

Claim 10

An electrostatically deformable single crystal mirror comprising: a first highly doped thick, substantially inflexible, substrate layer; a second highly doped thick, substantially inflexible substrate layer, a highly doped membrane layer having a polished surface located between said first and second highly doped substrate layers and separated from said first substrate layer by a first insulating layer, said first insulating layer having a central region etched away to form a first cavity between said first substrate and said membrane and separated from said second substrate layer by a second insulating layer, said second insulating layer having a central region etched away to form a second cavity between said second substrate and membrane; a mirror layer applied to said polished surface of said membrane, and a plurality of electrodes distributed over each substrate such that an individual electrode may have a potential placed between it and the membrane.

Claim 11

An electrostatically deformable single crystal mirror comprising: a first highly doped thick, substantially inflexible, substrate layer; a second highly doped thick, substantially inflexible substrate layer, a highly doped membrane layer having a polished surface located between said first and second highly doped substrate layers and separated from said first substrate layer by a first insulating layer, said first insulating layer having a central region etched away to form a first cavity between said first substrate and said membrane and separated from said second substrate layer by a second insulating layer, said second insulating layer having a central region etched away to form a second cavity between said second substrate and membrane; a mirror layer applied to said polished surface of said membrane, and a plurality of electrodes distributed over each substrate such that an individual electrode may have a potential placed between it and the membrane.

Claim 12

An electrostatically deformable single crystal dielectrically coated mirror comprising: a thick substrate adapted to permit the voltage or charge at one surface to be controlled; an insulating layer, from which a region has been removed, said insulating layer bonded to said thick substrate; a thin substrate adapted to permit the voltage or charge at one surface to be controlled, said thin substrate having at least one polished surface, said thin substrate, bonded to said insulating layer such that a polished surface is not bonded to said insulating layer; a mirror layer applied to said polished unbonded surface of said thin substrate; at least one electrical contact adapted to control a potential between said thick substrate and said thin substrate; and a position transducer attached to said mirror for measuring the amount of deformation in said mirror, said position transducer comprising: (i) a doped region within but electrically isolated from said thick substrate; (ii) a second doped region within but electrically isolated from said thin substrate; (iii) a first capacitor electrode connected to said doped region for connection to one terminal of an arm of a high frequency capacitance measurement bridge; and (iv) a second capacitor electrode connected to said second doped region for connection to a second terminal of an arm of the high frequency capacitance measurement bridge.

Claim 13

An electrostatically deformable single crystal dielectrically coated mirror comprising: a thick substrate adapted to permit the voltage or charge at one surface to be controlled; an insulating layer, from which a region has been removed, said insulating layer bonded to said thick substrate; a thin substrate adapted to permit the voltage or charge at one surface to be controlled, said thin substrate having at least one polished surface, said thin substrate, bonded to said insulating layer such that a polished surface is not bonded to said insulating layer; a mirror layer applied to said polished unbonded surface of said thin substrate; at least one electrical contact adapted to control a potential between said thick substrate and said thin substrate; and a position transducer attached to said mirror for measuring the amount of deformation in said mirror, said position transducer comprising: (i) a doped region within but electrically isolated from said thick substrate; (ii) a second doped region within but electrically isolated from said thin substrate; (iii) a first capacitor electrode connected to said doped region for connection to one terminal of an arm of a high frequency capacitance measurement bridge; and (iv) a second capacitor electrode connected to said second doped region for connection to a second terminal of an arm of the high frequency capacitance measurement bridge.