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In this paper, we describe an electrostatically tunable optical bandpass filter that is fabricated in (110) silicon. Deep reactive-ion etching is the main process that is used to fabricate the overall device structure. To create the highly parallel surfaces that are needed for the photonic band gap elements, electrochemical (KOH) etching of the vertical (111) planes is then used. Back etching is used to release the moving parts. Fiber pigtails are attached in etched alignment grooves, and fiber-fiber insertion loss below 11 dB was obtained. The measured passband width was 3 nm with a tuning range of 8 nm. [2006-0165] Index Terms--Anisotropic etching, optical filter, photonic band gap (PBG), silicon-on-insulator (SOI).

Pull-in study of an electrostatic microactuator is essential for making the electrostatic actuation more effective. In this paper, pull-in analysis is presented for an electrostatic torsion microactuator. The torsion microactuator can be used as a microtorsion mirror. A polynomial algebraic equation for the pull-in voltage and pull-in angle of a torsion microactuator is derived. Two types of microactuators fabricated using bulk micromachining are presented. Measurements done on the fabricated microactuators are reported, showing deviations within 1% error from the calculations. [325] Index Terms - Electrostatic, microactuator, micromirror, pull-in, torsion.