A large angle, low voltage, small footprint micromirror for eye tracking and near-eye display applications

This paper introduces a micromirror device that enables a compact, low-power, high-speed, high resolution eye-tracking system that may be integrated within eyeglasses or heads-up-displays. We report a CMOS-MEMS that achieves a scan range of 65 degrees (optical) in one axis and 25 degrees in another axis. The device operates at CMOS-compatible voltages (0-3.3V) and currents (<;15 mA), and employs isothermal scanning to suppress thermal excursions arising from electrothermal (ET) actuation. The footprint of the device is 40× smaller than commercially available micromirrors, at a mere 750μm × 750μm. Although the eye-tracking system is intended to operate under quasi-static conditions, its 5kHz resonant frequency may also enable QVGA resolution in near eye display applications.