Simplified monolithic process for fabricating low-cost, high-frequency, high-flatness scanning micromirrors

Author

Chui, B.W. ; Sun, Tairen ; Lim, Robert ; S, D.U. ; Olivo, M. ; Sun, Wen

Author_Institution

Ben Chui Consulting, Sunnyvale, CA, USA

fYear

2013

fDate

16-20 June 2013

Firstpage

1036

Lastpage

1039

Abstract

We have demonstrated a low-cost monolithic approach to fabricating micro-mirror platforms with tunable flatness for applications including Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT). This method enables flat, light-weight micro-mirrors with high resonance frequency to be made out of a single silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer, enabling a 10X improvement in mirror flatness over prior monolithic constructions. Using a single backside mask and etch, we take advantage of the aspect-ratio-dependent etch rate (ARDE) of deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) to simultaneously form both a support frame and a two-axis scanning micro-mirror. The mirror has a diameter of 1mm, while the thicknesses of the frame and the mirror (which has a conical backside profile) are 500μm and ~100μm, respectively.

Keywords

integrated optics; microfabrication; micromirrors; optical fabrication; optical tomography; optical tuning; silicon-on-insulator; sputter etching; ARDE; DRIE; OCT; SOI wafer; Si; aspect ratio dependent etch rate; deep reactive ion etching; mirror tunable flatness; monolithic approach; optical coherence tomography; resonance frequency; scanning micromirror fabricartion; silicon-on-insulator wafer; size 1 mm; Biomedical optical imaging; Etching; Micromirrors; Optical device fabrication; Optical imaging; Optical reflection; DRIE; SCREAM process; micromirror flatness; radius of curvature;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Solid-State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems (TRANSDUCERS & EUROSENSORS XXVII), 2013 Transducers & Eurosensors XXVII: The 17th International Conference on

Conference_Location

Barcelona

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/Transducers.2013.6626947

Filename

6626947