System, method and apparatus for a micromachined interferometer using optical splitting

A Mach-Zehnder Micro Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) interferometer, comprising:

• a first medium having a first edge forming a first half plane beam splitter and a second edge opposite to said first edge forming a second half plane beam splitter, said first half plane beam splitter optically coupled to receive an incident beam and to split said incident beam into first and second beams, said first beam propagating in said first medium towards said second half plane beam splitter;
• a second medium different from and adjacent to said first medium, said second beam propagating in said second medium;
• first and second moveable mirrors within said second medium, said first moveable minor optically coupled to receive said second beam and to reflect said second beam towards said second moveable mirror, said second moveable minor reflecting said second beam back towards said second half plane beam splitter as a reflected beam to cause interference between said first beam and said reflected beam at said second half plane beam splitter;
• and
• an actuator coupled to said first and second moveable mirrors to cause a displacement thereof, said displacement producing an optical path length difference between said first and second beams that is a function of said displacement.