TUNABLE WAVELENGTH FILTERING DEVICE THAT IS TUNED BY ALTERING THE ANGLE OF THE OPTICAL BEAM THAT IS INCIDENT ON A FILTER

摘要

A tunable wavelength filtering device is presented in which the tuning mechanism is based on altering the incident angle to an optical thin film coating stack, or thin film optical filter. Rotating mirrors, such as Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) tilt-mirrors, are used to alter the incident angle of the optical beam coming from an input fiber, and also to aim or align the exiting beam to an output optical fiber. The optical thin film coating stack can be implemented onto a glass substrate, to form a thin film filter chip. The thin film filter chip can be fixed in place, and the incident angle and exiting angle of the optical beam is varied by adjusting the tilt angle of the two rotating mirrors.