Electrostatic MEMS variable optical attenuator with folded micromirror

A reflection type VOA with folded micromirror was designed and fabricated. The proposed mirror structure can reduce the size of device by parallel alignment of the two fibers. Lensed fibers are used for high coupling efficiency and ease of assembly. The initial insertion loss is about 0.6 dB and the maximum attenuation is about 30 dB. The switching time of the fabricated VOA is about 1 ms.