Characterization of a micromachined vertically deformable varying-pitch grating for a spectrometer

Abstract

A new type of micromachined vertically deformable varying-pitch grating is designed and fabricated. Its characterization and its feasibility as a spectrometer are presented. The deformable grating shows a 0.7 µm working range and 3.6 kHz bandwidth. Its characterization and its feasibility as a spectrometer are presented. The varying-pitch grating has the ability to detect an individual wavelength with a single detector by physical scanning. Its deformable capability can increase intensity and resolution at a specific wavelength. Those two capabilities are experimentally demonstrated.