Single crystal silicon micromirror and array
First Claim
1. A micromirror, comprising:
- a substrate having a through cavity;
a micromirror platform fabricated from said substrate and located in said cavity;
an actuator including a comb drive fabricated from said substrate and suspended in said cavity for motion with respect to said substrate; and
at least one support connected to suspend said platform from said actuator for motion with the actuator.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A micromirror is fabricated in a substrate by defining a mirror platform on a first side of the substrate, defining an actuator structure corrected to the platform on a second side of the substrate, and then releasing the mirror platform for motion with the actuator. The actuator may be a comb drive structure having interdigitated movable finger electrodes connected to the mirror platform and stationary finger electrodes mounted on the substrate. The movable and stationary finger electrodes preferably are asymmetrical, and when activated, controllably move the mirror platform either horizontally or vertically with respect to the surface of the substrate.
The comb drive structure may be connected at one of its ends to a torsional support beam secured to the substrate, for torsional motion of the mirror platform with respect to the substrate. Alternatively, the comb drive may be connected at both ends to spaced torsional support beams for vertical motion of the platform with respect to the substrate. In the latter case, the actuator preferably includes spaced hinges to allow expansion of the actuator length.
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Citations
34 Claims
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1. A micromirror, comprising:
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a substrate having a through cavity;
a micromirror platform fabricated from said substrate and located in said cavity;
an actuator including a comb drive fabricated from said substrate and suspended in said cavity for motion with respect to said substrate; and
at least one support connected to suspend said platform from said actuator for motion with the actuator. - 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 micromirror comprising:
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a substrate having a through cavity;
a micromirror platform fabricated from said substrate and located in said cavity;
a beam extending across said cavity;
an actuator fabricated from said substrate and suspended in said cavity for motion with respect to said substrate, a first end of said actuator being secured to said beam and a second end of said actuator being free for torsional motion about said beam in said cavity;
at least one support connected to suspend said platform from said actuator for motion with the actuator;
wherein said actuator includes a backbone connected to said beam, and multiple transverse movable fingers on said backbone interdigitated with multiple stationary fingers on said substrate to form a comb-type drive for said actuator.
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24. A microelectromechanical mirror structure, comprising:
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a substrate having a cavity;
at least one support beam secured to said substrate and extending into said cavity;
an elongated actuator beam having an end portion connected to, and substantially perpendicular to, said support beam, extending into said cavity, and movable in said cavity with respect to said substrate;
a mirror platform mounted on said actuator beam and movable with said beam; and
a driver mounted on said substrate and activatable to drive said actuator beam to controllably move said platform. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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Specification