ROCKY MOUNTAIN SECTION OPTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA & IEEE LASERS AND ELECTROOPTICS SOCIETY April Meeting Date: Thursday, 16 Apr. 1998 Time: 7:00 PM refreshments, 7:30 PM talk Place: National Institute of Standards and Technology 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO Room 1103/1105 Surface Micromachined Optical Systems Victor M. Bright, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Mechanical Engineering University of Colorado, Boulder, CO Abstract: Recent advances in micromachining readily allow implementation of micro opto- electro-mechanical structures on the order of 100 micrometers in size. Applications of such miniaturized mirrors, gratings, lenses, and shutters include laser radar imaging, free-space optical communication, optical switching, holographic data storage and retrieval, and adaptive/corrective optics. Sub-components such as hinged and rotating structures are combined with powerful and compact microactuators for positioning and operating the micro- optical devices. The individual micro-optical components and control mechanisms can be arranged into complex systems like fiber optic switches, optical scanners, and interferometers. The micromachined optical systems, which fit on a single integrated circuit chip, have many potential practical advantages, including integration with control and signal processing electronics, as well as batch-fabrication and low cost. In addition, the low individual mass of the micromachined devices leads to superior ruggedness and fast system response time. Biography: Dr. Victor M. Bright is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Prior to joining the University of Colorado, he was an Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio (6/92-12/97). Prof. Bright's research activities include micro-electro- mechanical systems, silicon micromachining, microsensors, microactuators, opto- electronics, microelectronics, and semiconductor device physics. Dr. Bright is an acknowledged expert in the design and fabrication of MEMS for optical beam steering and shaping. From 1995 to 1997 Dr. Bright conducted an Air Force Office of Scientific Research funded effort into the development of MEMS for low-power optical aberration control. The research resulted in the first successful demonstration of wave front aberration control using a segmented 127 element piston type micromirror array. The results of this work were published in a special issue of Optical Engineering (May 1997). Dr. Bright has authored and co-authored more than 70 papers in the areas of microsensors and microactuators.