MICROMIRROR AND FABRICATION METHOD FOR PRODUCING MICROMIRROR
First Claim
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1. A micromirror structure, comprising:
- at least one micromirror, wherein each micromirror comprises;
a mirror plate;
a pillar structure; and
at least one electrothermal actuator,wherein the pillar structure interconnects the at least one electrothermal actuator to the mirror plate, wherein at least a portion of one or more of the at least one electrothermal actuator is positioned under the mirror plate.
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Abstract
A high-fill-factor and large-aperture tip-tilt micromirror array is disclosed. Electrothermal actuation can be used to obtain a large scan range, and the actuation engine can be hidden underneath the mirror plate for high fill factor. In one embodiment, inverted-series-connected (ISC) bimorph actuators can be used to achieve tilt and piston scanning. Embodiments can be used to implement optical phased array technology for steering active and passive electro-optical systems based on MEMS mirrors.
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Citations
33 Claims
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1. A micromirror structure, comprising:
at least one micromirror, wherein each micromirror comprises; a mirror plate; a pillar structure; and at least one electrothermal actuator, wherein the pillar structure interconnects the at least one electrothermal actuator to the mirror plate, wherein at least a portion of one or more of the at least one electrothermal actuator is positioned under the mirror plate. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A method of fabricating at least one micromirror, wherein each micromirror comprises:
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a mirror plate; a pillar structure; at least one electrothermal actuator; wherein the pillar structure interconnects the at least one electrothermal actuator to the mirror plate, wherein at least a portion of one or more of the at least one electrothermal actuator is positioned below the mirror plate, wherein the method comprises; preparing a silicon-on-insulator substrate; fabricating the at least one electrothermal actuator on a front side of the silicon-on-insulator substrate; and fabricating the mirror plate on a back side of the silicon-on-insulator substrate, wherein at least a portion of an inner silicon region of the silicon-on-insulator substrate is removed to create the pillar structure. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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Specification