Abstract:
Like many other engineers and inventors, I believe that the boundaries between
traditional fields offer unique and exciting opportunities for innovation and new
developments. This is almost self evident when one considers complex systems
that integrate functions from several domains. It is also natural that the boundaries
between fields are less understood, simply because their study requires expertise
in two or more fields.
From this last observation, it follows that interdisciplinary research is hard. It re-
quires dedicated individuals who are willing to make the heavy investments necessary
to
master
several fields
of
inquiry,
or,
something
even
more
extraordinary,
teams that are
able to
smoothly
communicate across
disciplinary
boundaries.
This
is
the
defining
problem
of
the
book. It is
written
to
encourage
and facilitate
interdisciplinary
research
on
optical
microsystems, by which
we
mean
optics created
using
microfabrication
technology,
i.e.
the
tools
and
techniques
developed
to
fabricate
Integrated
Circuits
(ICs)
and
MicroElectroMechanical (MEMS).
Innovation
and
design
of
modern
optical
systems
requires
input
from
many
fields,
as well as
specific
application
knowledge.
Examples
include
optical
interconnects,
optical-fiber
communication
networks,
digital
projectors,
and
imagers
for
photography
and
microscopy. The
design
of
these
systems
depends
on
seamless
integration of
optics
with
electronics
and
mechanics.
The
best
solutions are
optimized
over all
these
domains to
meet
application
demands.
In
the case
of
microoptics,
the
interdisciplinary
requirements
are even
stricter; these
systems
must be
optimized
for
the
Integrated
Circuit
(IC)
and
MicroElectroMechanical (MEMS)
fabrication
environment. A large
part of
that
optimization
is
to reduce
the
dimensions
of
the
optical-systems
designs so
that they
can be practically
and
economically
fabricated
using
IC
and
MEMS techniques.
This
book
gives
students,
researchers,
and
developers
the
tools
they
need
to
analyze and
design
micro-optical
devices
systems.
Design is
the
ultimate
“inverse”
problem, so the emphasis is on analytical models that can be turned into design
equations. The point is to enable interdisciplinary research, so very little background
in
optics, MEMS,
or
fabrication is
assumed.
The
first
part
on
optics
fundamentals is
accessible to
readers
with
an
understanding
of
first-year,
universitylevel
physics.
The
book is
self-contained
in
that
the
concepts
developed
in
the
first
part
give
the
necessary
background for
understanding
the detailed
descriptions
of
the
second
and
third
parts.