Electrically controlled tiltable microstructures

a microstructure and tilting technology, applied in the field of microstructures, can solve the problems of difficult to achieve a flat mirror surface, temperature and material limitations, and difficult to achieve both qualities in micromachined devices, and achieve the effect of large tilting angle and large fill factor

a microstructure and tilting technology, applied in the field of microstructures, can solve the problems of difficult to achieve a flat mirror surface, temperature and material limitations, and difficult to achieve both qualities in micromachined devices, and achieve the effect of large tilting angle and large fill factor

US20070018065A1Inactive Publication Date: 2007-01-25TELEDYNE LICENSING
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  • Electrically controlled tiltable microstructures
  • Electrically controlled tiltable microstructures
  • Electrically controlled tiltable microstructures

Examples

Experimental program
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Embodiment Construction

[0024] An illustrative microstructure device which supports a tiltable platform in accordance with the invention is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. As used herein, the term “platform” includes a mirror but is not limited to mirror applications; it can also provide a base for other functions such as filters, gratings, and non-optical applications.

[0025] Although not required by the invention, the fabrication preferably employs a hybrid micromachining approach that combines bulk and surface micromachine techniques. This approach to forming a microstructure is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,587,613 by the present inventor, issued Jul. 1, 2003, the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein. It involves the formation of a support structure for a bulk micromachined element by fabricating the support structure on the element using surface micromachining techniques. One implementation uses a 5-level surface micromachining technology that allows for the fabrication of complex movab...

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Abstract

A support structure extends upwards from a substrate and supports a tiltable platform, the upper surface of which can be a mirror, by means of spaced flexible couplings that enable the platform to tilt relative to the support structure. Respective electrodes associated with the substrate and platform control the platform tilt in response to applied signals. The platform electrodes are preferably spaced below and tilt with the platform, with the platform extending laterally from the support structure further than the platform electrodes. The platform is preferably bulk micromachined, and the support structure surface micromachined.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] This invention relates to electrically controlled microstructures with tiltable platforms, and has particular application to micromirrors. [0003] 2. Description of the Related Art [0004] There are various applications for micromirror arrays with tilting capabilities, such as optical cross-couplers, projection displays, optical attenuators and laser beam scanning and pointing systems. It is desirable that the micromirrors have a large tilt angle, to maximize the contrast between “on” and “off” states, and good mirror surface quality to reduce non-specular scatter that degrades image contrast. Achieving both qualities in micromachined devices has proven to be very difficult. [0005] In one approach, micromirrors formed from thin metal films that are monolithically integrated onto the control circuitry have been used for projector displays. The mirrors are co-fabricated with the circuitry, leading to temperature and mat...

Claims

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Application Information

Patent Timeline
25 Jan 2007
Publication
US20070018065A1
IPC
A47F5/00
CPC
B81B3/0062; B81B2201/033; G02B26/0841; B81B2203/053; B81B2203/058; B81B2201/042
Inventors
DENATALE, JEFFREY F.; LI, XIAOBIN