Response study of the micromechanical modulator under different drive conditions

A new type of micromechanical optical modulator with a MARS structure is presented, which is fabricated by the surface micromechanical process. The measurement results show that the modulator has a series of resonant frequencies. When the modulator is driven by the sinusoidal signal, the response signal is also sinusoidal. However, when the modulator is driven by the square wave signal, the response signal depends on the driving frequency. If the frequency of the driving signal is far less than the resonant frequency, the modulator is driven by the up and down step signal: there is a damp vibration phenomenon. If the driving frequency is close to the resonant frequency, only the fundamental frequency part of the square wave has an effect: the modulator response is the sinusoidal signal.