Magnetic actuated FR4 scanners for compact spectrometers - art. no. 699303

Abstract

A novel magnetic actuated polymer optical platform is integrated into a Michelson interferometer type Fourier transform infrared spectrometer. The proposed advantages of the novel platform over existing approaches, such as MEMS spectrometers, or bulky FTIR systems, include millimeter range dimensions providing a large clear aperture and enabling conventional machining for device fabrication, a controllable AC and/or DC motion both in rotational and translational modes, and low frequency operation. It has been demonstrated that the platform is capable of achieving 400 mu m DC deflection in ambient pressure in the translational mode, and a total optical scan angle exceeding 60 degrees in the resonant rotational mode. A Michelson type Fourier transform spectrometer was built using a retro-reflector bearing FR4 platform and a spectral resolution of 25cm(-1) is demonstrated with this setup. In addition, possible use of the same platform in various other spectrometer configurations and methods to improve the motion precision are discussed.