A one-chip scanning retina with an integrated micro-mechanical scanning actuator for a compound eye visual sensor

A micro-sensor that merges sensing and scanning functions on a single-chip has been designed and fabricated, resulting in the successful design of the first integrated scanning retina of its kind. A microfabrication technique has been developed in order to combine a microlens array together with a photodiode array and an electrostatically driven scanning slit on a single chip. The movement of the electrostatic scanner generates an effect similar to that of “retinal scanning vergence” found in the insects´ compound eyes. With the fully integrated silicon scanning retina with a micro-mechanical scanner, we propose a new architecture of Retinal Scanning which enhances the resolution of a visual sensor