Irregularly shaped actuator fingers for a micro-electromechanical system fabry-perot filter

1. A micro-electrical mechanical system apparatus, comprising:

a comb drive actuator;

wherein said comb drive actuator includes a set of movable fingers and a set of anchored fingers;

said set of movable fingers or said set of anchored fingers having a first finger, wherein a surface of said first finger has at least one of: (i) a saw-tooth profile and (ii) a reverse saw-tooth profile; and

at least one movable Fabry-Perot filter cavity mirror coupled to said comb drive actuator.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said set of movable fingers includes said first finger.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein said surface of said first finger faces an anchored finger.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said set of anchored fingers includes said first finger.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein said surface of said first finger faces a movable finger.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said comb drive actuator comprises a bi-stable device associated with a first latched position and a second latched position.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein said bi-stable device is within a plane and said at least one movable mirror is oriented substantially normal to the plane.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the plane is defined by a silicon wafer and further comprising:

a fixed mirror oriented substantially normal to the plane and substantially parallel to said at least one movable mirror.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said Fabry-Perot filter cavity is associated with a spectrometer.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , further comprising:

a light source to provide broadband light scattered from an analyte sample; and

a sensor to sense photons exiting said Fabry-Perot filter cavity over time as said at least one movable mirror is moved by said comb drive actuator.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a relationship between a voltage applied to said comb drive actuator and an amount of displacement associated with said at least one movable mirror is substantially linear.

12. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said apparatus is associated with at least one of: (i) a telecommunication device, (ii) a meteorology device, and (iii) a pressure sensor.

13. A method, comprising:

routing light from a sample of molecules into a tunable Fabry-Perot cavity;

actuating a movable Fabry-Perot filter cavity mirror using a comb drive actuator;

wherein said comb drive actuator includes a set of movable fingers and a set of anchored fingers;

said set of movable fingers or said set of anchored fingers having a first finger, the first finger having a surface that has at least one of: (i) a saw-tooth profile and (ii) a reverse saw-tooth profile, wherein actuation distances are associated with a spectral range of light wavelengths; and

detecting interference patterns across the spectral range.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

comparing the detected interference pattern with a signature pattern associated with a particular molecule.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:

providing an indication based on said comparing.

16. A spectrometer, comprising:

a laser source;

an analyte sample to reflect light from the laser source;

a Fabry-Perot filter cavity to receive the reflected light;

at least one movable Fabry-Perot filter cavity mirror associated with said Fabry-Perot filter cavity;

a comb drive actuator coupled to said at least one movable mirror, wherein said comb drive actuator includes a set of movable fingers and a set of anchored fingers;

said set of movable fingers or said set of anchored fingers having a first finger, wherein a surface of said first finger has at least one of: (i) a saw-tooth profile and (ii) a reverse saw-tooth profile;

a detector to detect photons exiting said Fabry-Perot filter cavity over time as said at least one movable mirror is moved by said comb drive actuator; and

a decision unit to determine if the analyte sample is associated with at least one type of molecule based on the sensed photons.

17. The spectrometer of claim 16 , wherein said spectrometer comprises at least one of: (i) a Raman device, (ii) an infra-red absorption device, and (iii) a fluorescence spectroscopy device.

18. The spectrometer of claim 16 , wherein said comb drive actuator is associated with a first latched position and a second latched position.

19. A micro-electrical mechanical system apparatus, comprising:

a comb drive actuator driven by a voltage, wherein said comb drive actuator includes a set of movable fingers and a set of anchored fingers;

said set of movable fingers or said set of anchored fingers having a first finger, wherein a first surface of said first finger has at least one of: (i) a saw-tooth profile and (ii) a reverse saw-tooth profile;

and at least one movable Fabry-Perot filter cavity mirror coupled to said comb drive actuator, wherein a relationship between the voltage and an amount of displacement associated with said at least one movable mirror is substantially linear.

20. The micro-electrical mechanical system apparatus of claim 19 , wherein said set of movable fingers or said set of anchored fingers further comprises a second finger, wherein a first surface of said second finger has at least one of: (i) a saw-tooth profile and (ii) a reverse saw-tooth profile, and a third finger positioned between said first finger and said second finger.