Electrical tuning of resonant scanning

• US 9,869,858 B2
• Filed: 12/01/2015
• Issued: 01/16/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 12/01/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Gerson, Yuval, Shpunt, Alexander
• Primary Examiner(s): Ko, Tony
• Application Number:
  US14/955,060
• Publication Number:
  US 20170153445A1
• Time in Patent Office: 777 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B81B 2201/033 Comb drives
• CPC Class Codes: B81B 2201/034 Electrical rotating micromachines
• CPC Class Codes: B81B 2201/047 Optical MEMS not provided for in B81B2201/042 - B81B2201/045
• CPC Class Codes: B81B 2203/0136 Comb structures
• CPC Class Codes: B81B 2203/058 Rotation out of a plane parallel to the substrate
• CPC Class Codes: B81B 2207/015 the micromechanical device and the control or processing electronics being integrated on the same substrate
• CPC Class Codes: B81B 3/007 For controlling stiffness, e.g. ribs
• CPC Class Codes: B81C 1/00515 Bulk micromachining techniques not provided for in B81C1/00507
• CPC Class Codes: B81C 2201/0111 Bulk micromachining
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/10 using transmission of interrupted, pulse-modulated waves determination of distance by phase measurements G01S17/32
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/42 Simultaneous measurement of distance and other co-ordinates indirect measurement G01S17/46
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/89 for mapping or imaging
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/4817 relating to scanning
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/497 Means for monitoring or calibrating
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 26/0833 the reflecting element being a micromechanical device, e.g. a MEMS mirror, DMD G02B26/0825 takes precedence; micromechanical devices in general B81B
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 26/101 with both horizontal and vertical deflecting means, e.g. raster or XY scanners colour television using laser beams scanning a display screen H04N9/3129

Abstract

A scanning device includes a frame, having a central opening, and an array including a plurality of parallel mirrors contained within the central opening of the frame. Hinges respectively connect the mirrors to the frame and define respective, mutually-parallel axes of rotation of the mirrors relative to the frame. A main drive applies a driving force to the array so as to drive an oscillation of the mirrors about the hinges at a resonant frequency of the array. A sensor is configured to detect a discrepancy in a synchronization of the oscillation among the mirrors in the array, and an adjustment circuit applies a corrective signal to at least one of the mirrors in order to alleviate the detected discrepancy.

Claims

1. A scanning device, comprising:

a frame, having a central opening;

an array comprising a plurality of parallel mirrors contained within the central opening of the frame;

hinges, which respectively connect the mirrors to the frame and define respective, mutually-parallel axes of rotation of the mirrors relative to the frame;

a main drive, which is configured to apply a driving force to the array so as to drive an oscillation of the mirrors about the hinges at a resonant frequency of the array;

a sensor, which is configured to detect a discrepancy in a synchronization of the oscillation among the mirrors in the array; and

an adjustment circuit, which is coupled to apply a corrective signal to at least one of the mirrors in order to alleviate the detected discrepancy,

wherein the adjustment circuit comprises a first conductive comb attached to an edge of at least one of the mirrors and a second conductive comb attached to the frame so as to interleave with the first conductive comb, and the corrective signal is applied as an electrical potential difference between the first and second conductive combs.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the frame, the mirrors, and the hinges comprise an epitaxial semiconductor material, which is etched to define and separate the mirrors and the hinges from the frame.

3. The device according to claim 2, wherein the hinges comprise torsion hinges.

4. The device according to claim 1, and comprising a base surrounding the frame and rotationally connected to the frame so that the frame rotates, relative to the base, about a frame axis that is perpendicular to the mutually-parallel axes of rotation of the mirrors.

5. The device according to claim 4, wherein the main drive is configured to apply the driving force to the frame so as to cause the frame to rotate about the frame axis relative to the base, and wherein the mirrors are weighted asymmetrically so as to couple the oscillation of the mirrors about the respective axes to the rotation of the frame about the frame axis.

6. The device according to claim 5, wherein the driving force is applied to the frame at a gimbal frequency that is less than half of the resonant frequency of the array.

7. The device according to claim 1, wherein the electrical potential difference comprises a DC potential, which damps the oscillation of the at least one of the mirrors.

8. The device according to claim 1, wherein the electrical potential difference comprises a time-varying potential, which is applied at the resonant frequency.

10. The device according to claim 1, and comprising:

a transmitter, which is configured to emit a beam of light toward a first mirror in the array, which reflects the beam so that as to scan the beam over a scene; and

a receiver, which is configured to receive, by reflection from at least second mirror in the array, the light reflected from the scene and to generate an output indicative of the light received from points in the scene.

9. A scanning device, comprising:

a frame, having a central opening;

an array comprising a plurality of parallel mirrors contained within the central opening of the frame;

hinges, which respectively connect the mirrors to the frame and define respective, mutually-parallel axes of rotation of the mirrors relative to the frame;

a main drive, which is configured to apply a driving force to the array so as to drive an oscillation of the mirrors about the hinges at a resonant frequency of the array;

a sensor, which is configured to detect a discrepancy in a synchronization of the oscillation among the mirrors in the array; and

an adjustment circuit, which is coupled to apply a corrective signal to at least one of the mirrors in order to alleviate the detected discrepancy,

wherein the adjustment circuit comprises a heating trace formed in a vicinity of one or more of the hinges, and the corrective signal is applied as a current flowing through the heating trace so as to increase a temperature of at least one of the hinges.

11. A method for producing a scanning device, the method comprising:

etching a semiconductor wafer to define;

a frame, having a central opening;

an array comprising a plurality of parallel mirrors contained within the central opening of the frame; and

hinges, which respectively connect the mirrors to the frame and define respective, mutually-parallel axes of rotation of the mirrors relative to the frame;

coupling a main drive to apply a driving force to the array so as to drive an oscillation of the mirrors about the hinges at a resonant frequency of the array;

coupling a sensor to detect a discrepancy in a synchronization of the oscillation among the mirrors in the array; and

coupling an adjustment circuit to apply a corrective signal to at least one of the mirrors in order to alleviate the detected discrepancy,

wherein coupling the adjustment circuit comprises attaching a first conductive comb to an edge of at least one of the mirrors and attaching a second conductive comb to the frame so as to interleave with the first conductive comb, and applying the corrective signal as an electrical potential difference between the first and second conductive combs.

12. The method according to claim 11, and comprising etching the semiconductor wafer to define a base surrounding the frame and rotationally connected to the frame so that the frame rotates, relative to the base, about a frame axis that is perpendicular to the mutually-parallel axes of rotation of the mirrors.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein coupling the main drive comprises applying the driving force to the frame so as to cause the frame to rotate about the frame axis relative to the base, wherein the mirrors are weighted asymmetrically so as to couple the oscillation of the mirrors about the respective axes to the rotation of the frame about the frame axis.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the driving force is applied to the frame at a gimbal frequency that is less than half of the resonant frequency of the array.

15. The method according to claim 11, wherein the electrical potential difference comprises a DC potential, which damps the oscillation of the at least one of the mirrors.

16. The method according to claim 11, wherein the electrical potential difference comprises a time-varying potential, which is applied at the resonant frequency.

17. The method according to claim 11, wherein coupling the adjustment circuit comprises forming a heating trace in a vicinity of one or more of the hinges, and applying the corrective signal as a current flowing through the heating trace so as to increase a temperature of at least one of the hinges.

18. The method according to claim 11, and comprising:

positioning a transmitter to emit a beam of light toward a first mirror in the array, which reflects the beam so that as to scan the beam over a scene; and

positioning a receiver to receive, by reflection from at least second mirror in the array, the light reflected from the scene and to generate an output indicative of the light received from points in the scene.