Development of microelectromechanical variable blaze gratings

Two types of microelectromechanical variable blaze gratings (VBGs) have been designed, modeled, fabricated, and tested. The gratings operate by adjusting the blaze angle of each slat so specular reflection of the incident light matches a particular grating diffraction order. The VBG blaze angle is adjustable with either electrostatic or thermal actuators. VBGs direct incident light in discrete directions, and are useful for steering light with beam diameters greater than 1 mm and power levels greater than 1 W. Both electrostatically and thermally actuated VBGs have been constructed from gold and polysilicon using a surface-micromachining process and tested with a 20 mW continuous wave HeNe laser operating at a wavelength of 632.8 nm. The diffraction efficiency and far-field pattern have been modeled and measured. Drive voltages for both types of gratings are measured as a function of blaze angle and selected diffraction order. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A.