Dynamic response of thermally tunable micromachined optical filter with low tuning voltage

We present some tuning characteristics of a GaAlAs/GaAs micromachined tunable filter with a thermal strain control layer and heating element integrated on a top surface. We present the design of micromachined filters for a wide tuning range and for fast wavelength tuning. Experimentally, we demonstrate the fast tuning response with rise time and fall time of below 100 /spl mu/s.