Analytical study on arbitrary waveform generation by MEMS micro mirror arrays

We provide analytical modeling and the detailed procedure that is used in recently proposed arbitrary waveform generation technique by using MEMS digital micro-mirror arrays. We estimate the achievable temporal resolution, repetition rate, modulation index and the rise/fall times of the final waveform as figure of merit in the proposed systems. We show that reducing the diffraction limit via increasing the ratio of beam size to lens focal length (>0.075) and the spatial modulation down to single mirror pitch size (10.8 mu m), waveforms up to 18GHz repetition rates with >90% modulation index and <100ps rise times are achievable. Theoretical calculations are compared with experimental generation of 120MHz square waves and 160MHz sawtooth waves and obtained good agreement. (C) 2012 Optical Society of America