AN OPTO-MECHANICAL OPTICAL PATH RETARDATION MULTIPLIER FOR OPTICAL MEMS APPLICATIONS

Abstract:

Embodiments of the present invention provide an optical Micro Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) device providing an optical path retardation multiplier. The MEMS device includes a moveable corner cube reflector, a fixed mirror and a MEMS actuator. The moveable corner cube reflector is optically coupled to receive an incident beam on one edge of the corner cube reflector and operable to reflect the incident beam from another edge of the corner cube reflector. The fixed mirror is optically coupled to receive the incident beam reflected from the moveable corner cube reflector and operable to reflect the incident beam back towards the moveable corner cube reflector as a reflected beam along a reverse path of the incident beam. The MEMS actuator is coupled to the moveable corner cube reflector to cause a displacement of the moveable corner cube reflector perpendicular to a plane of the fixed mirror to extend an optical path length of the reflected beam.