Tunable external-cavity laser using MEMS technology

This paper reports a tunable external-cavity diode laser using a MEMS curved mirror fabricated on a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer. In addition to the many advantages coming with the MEMS technology, this laser has the benefits of low alignment requirement, easy integration/packaging and potentially large wavelength tuning range. It has a size of 1.5 mm/spl times/1 mm (not including the optical fiber), and obtains a wavelength tuning range of 10.6 nm. The output power is about 5 mW at 40 mA injection current (I/sub th/ = 26 mA).