摘要
An optical phase modulator is presented by using micro-electro-mechanical systems to actuate deformable silicon waveguides. Via mechanically stretching the waveguide length, the optical path is extended, resulting in a phase shift. The experimental results show that a phase shift of near 0.4π is achieved at 200 V for both TE- and TM-polarized waves by ascading six phase modulation units, agreeing well with the theoretical prediction. The power consumption is estimated to be smaller than 0.2mW at 200 V, mainly resulting from the leakage current. © 2011 Optical Society of America.