Micro-mirror Hinge Extension Beyond Pixel Area
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Solution Overview
Problem
In digital micro-mirror devices (DMDs), reducing hinge length to achieve smaller pixels and higher resolution is challenging due to increased turn-on voltage requirements and manufacturing difficulties, such as sagging, with thinner hinges being hard to produce effectively.
Innovation Solution
The hinges are designed to traverse areas beyond the pixel they support, allowing for sufficient length and thickness to minimize voltage requirements and sagging effects, while maintaining or reducing pixel size and enhancing resolution.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of moving object
If hinge length is reduced to achieve smaller pixels and higher resolution, then pixel size decreases and resolution increases, but turn-on voltage increases and manufacturing difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The hinge is extended beyond the pixel boundaries in the lateral dimension, allowing the hinge length to be increased without increasing the pixel area. This dimensional extension resolves the contradiction by providing sufficient hinge length for lower turn-on voltage while maintaining small pixel size for high resolution.
2Area of moving object
If hinge length is reduced to achieve smaller pixels, then pixel size decreases, but manufacturing precision deteriorates due to sagging and difficulty in producing thin hinges
Solution Approach 1:
By extending the hinge laterally beyond the pixel area, the design allows use of thicker hinges that are easier to manufacture with acceptable precision. The extended hinge geometry provides sufficient structural support to minimize sagging while maintaining the required small pixel dimensions.
3Use of energy by moving object
If hinge thickness is reduced to lower turn-on voltage, then turn-on voltage decreases, but manufacturing difficulty increases and sagging increases
Solution Approach 1:
The hinge is extended in the lateral dimension beyond the pixel boundaries, allowing the use of thicker hinges that provide adequate structural stability and minimize sagging. This dimensional extension decouples the relationship between hinge thickness and turn-on voltage, enabling use of thicker, more reliable hinges.
Solution Approach 2:
By changing the geometric parameters of the hinge (extending length beyond pixel area), the mechanical advantage is improved, allowing thicker hinges to achieve acceptable turn-on voltages. This parameter change resolves the contradiction between hinge thickness and structural reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
According to one embodiment of the present invention a digital micro-mirror device is taught that includes a pixel occupying an area of the device and a hinge coupled to the pixel and positioned such that at least a portion of the hinge falls outside the area of the pixel.