A temperature-tunable etalon for optical telecommunication wavelength
Members
Shi Yicheng (A0054800R), Du Jinyi (A0227185B), Zhang Qian(A0228752Y)
Rationale
A Fabry-Perot interferometer (or an Etalon), being probably the simplest form of all interferometers, is found useful in a variety of optical applications such as spectral filtering or frequency referencing.
An etalon is typically constructed out of the two parallel reflecting surfaces of a transparent plate. The plate needs to have low absorption loss for the desired working wavelengths to ensure a relatively high finesse of the etalon. The material choice for visible wavelengths is usually fused silica with an absorption coefficient of [bla] and a thermal expansion coefficient of [bla].
For optical telecommunication wavelengths, which range from about 1260nm to 1625nm, pure silicon becomes a more practical choice with an absorption coefficient of [bla] and thermal expansion coefficient of [bla].
Characteristic Parameters of an Etalon
The performance of etalon is characterized by several main parameters: including visibility (V), free spectral range （FSR), full width half maximum (FWHM), and central wavelength.
Suppose that the , , are the light intensity of input, oscillating, output light.
Where the gap between two reflective surfaces is d and the refractive index in the cavity is n_e.
Building an Etalon Out of Silicon Wafer
Design
(this section will stay empty for a long time...)
Performance
Bare Silicon Wafer
