Design and characterisation of a low-power micromachined spatial light modulator

Author

McRobbie, Grueme ; Ling, Zuikung ; Clark, Fruser

Author_Institution

MicroScale Sensors, Univ. of Paisley, UK

fYear

2003

fDate

5-7 May 2003

Firstpage

187

Lastpage

191

Abstract

The MEMS spatial modulator proposed in this paper consists of a silicon element coated with a gold reflective layer. The silicon element is supported in the centre of a silicon nitride membrane and a platinum heater is used to control the temperature of the silicon and gold films. Increasing the temperature of the materials encompassed by the heater induces distortions analogous to those produced by heating a bimetallic beam fixed at both ends. To investigate these distortions, a 3-dimensional model of the membrane and the overlay components was constructed with ANSYS finite element software. Analysis of the results generated showed that a half-wavelength phase shift was obtainable with power consumptions less than 10 mW.

Keywords

finite element analysis; gold; micromachining; micromechanical devices; optical design techniques; silicon; spatial light modulators; thin films; 3-dimensional model; ANSYS finite element software; MEMS spatial modulator; Si-Au; bimetallic beam; gold films; gold reflective layer; heating; low power micromachined spatial light modulator; phase shift; platinum heater; power consumption; silicon element; silicon films; silicon nitride membrane; Biomembranes; Gold; Heating; Micromechanical devices; Optical films; Optical modulation; Platinum; Semiconductor films; Silicon; Temperature control;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Design, Test, Integration and Packaging of MEMS/MOEMS 2003. Symposium on

Print_ISBN

0-7803-7066-X

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/DTIP.2003.1287033

Filename

1287033