| US 7,573,578 B2 | ||
| Micro-electromechanical system Fabry-Perot filter mirrors | ||
| Anis Zribi, Rexford, N.Y. (US); Glenn S. Claydon, Wynantskill, N.Y. (US); David C. Hays, Niskayuna, N.Y. (US); Stacey Kennerly, Niskayuna, N.Y. (US); Long Que, Rexford, N.Y. (US); Shankar Chandrasekaran, Tamil Nadu (India); Shivappa Goravar, Karnataka (India); and Ayan Banerjee, Karnataka (India) | ||
| Assigned to GE Homeland Protection, Inc., Newark, Calif. (US) | ||
| Filed on Aug. 10, 2006, as Appl. No. 11/502,189. | ||
| Application 11/502189 is a continuation in part of application No. 11/447779, filed on Jun. 06, 2006. | ||
| Prior Publication US 2007/0279641 A1, Dec. 06, 2007 | ||
| Int. Cl. G01B 9/02 (2006.01) | ||
| U.S. Cl. 356—454 [356/519] | 16 Claims |
| 1. A micro-electrical mechanical system apparatus, comprising:
a movable partially reflecting mirror;
a fixed partially reflecting mirror, wherein the movable and fixed mirrors together define a cavity between the mirrors, and
further wherein the mirrors are each oriented to reflect light in a direction substantially parallel to upper and lower planar
surfaces of a wafer to further define the cavity between the mirrors, and further wherein the cavity is variable in size in
a direction substantially parallel to the upper and lower planar surfaces, and further wherein each mirror is disposed within
the wafer such that light passes through the fixed partially reflecting mirror to enter the cavity between the mirrors; and
a photonic band-gap structure on a surface of at least one of the movable or fixed mirrors, the photonic band-gap structure
comprising alternate layers of relatively high refractive index materials and air, wherein the layers together are configured
to achieve a desired level of finesse for a corresponding Fabry-Perot filter.
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