An integrated optical transducer for detecting dynamic pressure changes comprises a micro-electro-mechanical system, MEMS, die having a MEMS diaphragm with a first side exposed to the dynamic pressure changes and a second side, and an application-specific integrated circuit, ASIC, die having an optical interferometer assembly. The interferometer assembly comprises a beam splitting element for receiving a source beam from a light source and for splitting the source beam into a probe beam in a first beam path and a reference beam in a second beam path, a beam combining element for combining the probe beam with the reference beam to a superposition beam, and a detector configured to generate an electronic interference signal depending on the superposition beam. The MEMS die is arranged with respect to the ASIC die such that a gap is formed between the second side of the diaphragm and the ASIC die, with the gap defining a cavity and having a gap height. The first beam path of the probe beam comprises coupling into the cavity, reflection off of a deflection point or a deflection surface (16) of the diaphragm and coupling out of the cavity.

Silicon photonics provides an attractive platform for optoelectronic integrated circuits (OEICs) exploiting hybrid or monolithic integration with or without concurrent integration of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and/or CMOS electronic. Such OEICs offering optical component solutions across multiple applications from optical sensors through to optical networks operating upon one or more wavelengths. Accordingly, various silicon photonic building blocks are required in order to provide a toolkit for a circuit designer to exploit OEICs where these building blocks must address specific aspects of OEICs such as polarisation dependency of the optical waveguides. Accordingly, the inventors have established designs for: polarisation rotators with MEMS based tuning to allow the dual polarisations from a polarisation splitter to be managed by an OEIC operating upon a single polarisation; analog or digital phase shifts with MEMS actuation for switches, attenuators etc.; and passband filters with MEMS tuning.

Embodiments of the disclosure include a scanning mirror assembly for an optical sensing system. The scanning mirror assembly may include a scanning mirror formed in a first layer of the scanning mirror assembly. The scanning mirror assembly may also include a MEMS actuator formed in a second layer of the scanning mirror assembly, where the first layer is a predetermined distance above the second layer. The MEMS actuator may also include a plurality of stator actuator features and a plurality of rotatable actuator features formed from a same semiconductor layer during a fabrication process.

A microstructure for use in a micro electro-mechanical device comprises a substrate having a top surface and a rear surface and a thin-film structure arranged at the top surface of the substrate. The thin-film structure comprises a raised portion spaced from the substrate, a lower portion of the thin-film structure, which is in mechanical contact with the substrate, at least one protruding portion, the protruding portion being hollow and having at least one sidewall and a bottom part and the protruding portion mechanically connecting the raised portion to the substrate via the bottom part, and at least one further sidewall of the thin-film structure at a distance to the at least one protruding portion, wherein the further sidewall mechanically connects the lower portion with the raised portion of the thin-film structure.

A method of forming a bond between substrates and manipulating the bond comprises: emitting a first laser energy onto a strip of an absorption material disposed between a first substrate and a second substrate until the strip diffuses into the first substrate and the second substrate resulting in workpiece with a bond between the first substrate and the second substrate; emitting a second laser energy through the workpiece at the bond to create a fault line through the bond, the first substrate, and the second substrate, the second laser energy provided by an approximated Bessel beam, the approximated Bessel beam incident upon the bond having a diameter that is greater than a width of the bond; and repeating emitting the second laser energy step along a length of the bond to create a series of fault lines through the bond, the series of fault lines forming a contour.

A system includes an optical reflector to reflect the light, the optical reflector having a rotor, a first stator, and a second stator. The system further includes a controller in communication with the optical reflector. The controller is to drive the optical reflector by applying a first actuation voltage to the first stator, and a second actuation voltage to the second stator. Further, the controller is to apply an excitation voltage to the first stator. Furthermore, the controller is to determine a relationship between a first capacitance between the rotor and the first stator, and a second capacitance between the rotor and the second stator. Based on the relationship, the controller is to determine a position attribute of the optical reflector.

A method of manufacturing a semiconductor structure comprising: depositing a first layer in contact with a first surface area of a substrate; depositing a second layer in contact with a second surface area of the substrate, the second surface area substantially co-planar with and outwards of the first surface area; depositing a third layer in contact with the first layer and the second layer; removing a portion of the third layer to expose a portion of the first layer; and removing at least a portion of the first layer to create a cavity between the substrate, the second layer and the third layer.

A laser marking system including a spatial light modulator (SLM) with a multi-pixel, linear array of is microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) based diffractors, and methods of operating the same are disclosed. Generally, the system includes, in addition to the SLM, a laser operable to illuminate the SLM; imaging optics operable to focus a substantially linear swath of modulated light onto a surface of a workpiece, the linear swath including light from multiple pixels of the SLM, and a controller operable to control the SLM, laser and imaging optics to mark the surface of the workpiece to record a two-dimensional image thereon. In one embodiment, the diffractors include a number of electrostatically deflectable ribbons suspended over a substrate. In another, each diffractor is two-dimensional including an electrostatically deflectable first reflective operable to brought into optical interference with light reflected from a second reflective surface on a faceplate, or an adjacent diffractor.

A system to spatially modulate light includes an optical reflector to reflect the light. The optical reflector has an actuator that includes a stator and a rotor. The system further includes a controller in communication with the optical reflector. The controller is to drive the optical reflector by applying an excitation voltage between the rotor and the stator. Further, the controller is to apply a baseline voltage between the rotor and the stator, and to detect, during a voltage-off period of the excitation voltage, an induced current induced by the rotor moving relative to the stator. Furthermore, the controller is to determine a current attribute of the induced current and to determine a movement attribute of the optical reflector based on the current attribute.

The present invention discloses an optical MEMS based intracranial pressure (ICP) and intracranial temperature (ICT) monitor, comprising: a broadband light source, a tunable optical filter (TOF), an optical etalon, a plurality of optical receivers, a plurality of optical couplers, and a probe; wherein the probe comprises an ICP sensor and an ICT sensor; ICP is obtained by a depression wavelength of a reflection spectrum of the ICP sensor, the depression wavelength is obtained by comparing with a periodic spectrum with an absolute wavelength mark of an optical etalon; and ICT is obtained by a peak wavelength of a reflection spectrum of the ICT sensor, the peak wavelength is obtained by comparing with a periodic spectrum with an absolute wavelength mark of an optical etalon. The present application can precisely monitor ICP and ICT.