A micromirror device with post-fabrication re-adjustable pull-in parameters

Author

Elata, D. ; Bochobza-Degani, O. ; Nemirovsky, Y.

Author_Institution

Technion-Isreal Inst. of Technol., Hafia, Israel

Volume

2

fYear

2003

Firstpage

1478

Abstract

In prevalent torsion actuators the angular travel range and pull-in instability are set and cannot be changed once the device is fabricated. The current work presents a novel adjustable micromirror device. By using multiple electrodes, the novel design allows continuous and reversible adjustment of the electromechanical response and pull-in instability of a fabricated device. This response adjustment is demonstrated on a torsion micromirror device and it is used for analog adjustment of the stable angular travel range of micromirror. In addition, the inherent properties of the device enable simple duty cycle modulation of the dynamic response that can be used for gray-scale control.

Keywords

electromechanical effects; electrostatic actuators; lithography; metallisation; microelectrodes; micromachining; micromirrors; sputter etching; Si-SiO/sub 2/; analog adjustment; angular travel range; duty cycle modulation; dynamic response; electromechanical response; gray-scale control; lithography; metallisation; micromachining; micromirror device; multiple electrodes; post-fabrication readjustable pull-in parameters; prevalent torsion actuators; pull-in instability; sputter etching; Actuators; Capacitors; Displays; Electrodes; Electrostatics; Micromirrors; Optical attenuators; Telephony; Torque; Voltage;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

TRANSDUCERS, Solid-State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems, 12th International Conference on, 2003

Conference_Location

Boston, MA, USA

Print_ISBN

0-7803-7731-1

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/SENSOR.2003.1217056

Filename

1217056