Electromechanical micromirror devices and methods of manufacturing the same

Abstract

An electromechanical micromirror device comprises a device substrate with a 1st surface and a 2nd surface, control circuitry disposed on said 1st surface, and a micromirror disposed on said 2nd surface. Arrays of such micromirror devices are also described and may be used as a spatial light modulators (SLMs). The arrays may be 1 dimensional (linear) or 2 dimensional. Methods of fabricating micromirror devices and arrays of such devices are also disclosed. Such methods generally involve providing a device substrate with a 1st surface and a 2nd surface, fabricating control circuitry on the 1st surface, and fabricating micromirror(s) on the 2nd surface.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] This invention relates to electromechanical micromirror devices and methods of manufacturing the same. When fabricated in an array, such devices can be used as a spatial light modulator. BACKGROUND ART [0002] Electromechanical micromirror devices have drawn considerable interest because of their application as spatial light modulators (SLMs). A spatial light modulator requires an array of a relatively large number of such micromirror devices. In general, the number of devices required ranges from 60,000 to several million for each SLM. Despite significant advances that have been made in recent years, there is still a need for improvement in the performance and manufacturing yields of electromechanical micromirror devices. [0003] An example of an early generation prior art device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,592,628. U.S. Pat. No. 4,592,628 describes an array of light reflecting devices on a substrate. Each device comprises a hollow post and a deflectable po...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0017] A 1st advantage of the present invention is that it provides improved dielectric isolation between the control circuit and the micromirror. A 2nd advantage of the present invention is that provides improved optical isolation of the control circuit area. This is particularly advantageous when the micromirror array is used as a spatial light modulator (SLM) and the 1st surface (the micromirror side) is exposed to high intensity radiation. A 3rd advantage of the present invention is that it provides improved manufacturing yields because the control circuit manufacturing processes and micromirror manufacturing processes can be substantially isolated from each other. In other words, manufacturing artifacts arising from the control circuit process will not damage the micro

Problems solved by technology

There may be manufacturing problems associated with the fabrication of micromirrors on top of CMOS circuits.

The placement of CMOS circuits directly under the micromirrors is also responsible for problems of photosensitivity.

As discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,344,67

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