Development of miniaturized piezoelectric actuators for optical applications realized using LIGA technology

To combine the advantages of the LIGA technology and piezoelectric material s, first prototypes of movable elastic LIGA structures have been realized o n piezoelectric substrates, The structures consist of a flexible beam fixed to the piezoelectric substrate at its two ends in order to amplify the d(3 1)-contraction of the piezoelectric substrate. By using this flexible LIGA beam as a magnification mechanism, the small displacements of the piezoelec tric substrate are amplified by more than a factor of 20, offering various possibilities of applications, especially in micro-optics. In this paper, f irst the fabrication process and the performance of these new prototypes of LIGA piezoelectric actuators are described in detail, demonstrating the fe asibility of the new concept combining the LIGA technique and piezoelectric substrates, Subsequently, LIGA-piezoelectric actuators developed for micro -optical applications are presented, These new optical actuators are also b ased on an elastic beam but slightly modified in order to modulate light pr opagating in optical fibers. They find promising applications as micro-opti cal attenuators or choppers whose performance is demonstrated.