Micromirror Back Side Design for Deformation Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Micromirror devices experience significant deformation during displacement, leading to poor image quality and increased manufacturing costs due to complex design and material limitations.
Innovation Solution
The design of micromirrors with a back side that has a large central area and tapered side areas, made from silicon substrates or sodium-containing glass, minimizes deformation by using springs anchored at the back side, allowing for cost-effective manufacturing and improved displacement characteristics.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of moving object
If the mirror side is made large to improve image quality, then the mirror surface area increases, but deformation during displacement increases
Solution Approach 1:
The back side of the micromirror is designed with non-uniform thickness distribution, featuring a central area with greater thickness and side areas with reduced thickness. This local variation in structural properties allows the large mirror surface to maintain rigidity where needed (central area) while reducing mass and deformation at the edges, thereby preserving image quality during displacement.
2Manufacturing precision
If complex design structures are used to reduce deformation, then manufacturing precision improves, but device complexity and manufacturing costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The back side of the micromirror is segmented into distinct functional zones: a central area with greater thickness for structural support and minimal deformation, and side areas with reduced thickness for mass reduction. This segmentation allows each zone to perform its specific function optimally while maintaining overall manufacturing simplicity through standard semiconductor processes.
3Manufacturing precision
If high-performance materials are used to minimize deformation, then manufacturing precision improves, but manufacturing costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of changing material composition to reduce deformation, the invention changes the geometric parameters of the micromirror back side - specifically the thickness distribution across different areas. This parameter change achieves deformation control using standard semiconductor materials like silicon, thereby maintaining cost-effectiveness while improving manufacturing precision.
Data Source
AI summary
A micromirror for a micromirror device includes: a mirror side; and a back side which is directed away from the mirror side, at least one central area of the back side having at least one surface which is plane parallel to the mirror side, the back side being shaped in such a way that on two opposite sides of the central area, a side area having at least one side surface of the back side in each case, which is curved and/or oriented inclined toward the mirror side borders on the central area of the back side, and a height of the micromirror continuously decreasing starting from the central area along a cross section of the micromirror, which runs through the central area and the two side areas.