A Tip-Tilt-Piston Micromirror Array for Optical Phased Array Applications

作者：Wu Lei^*; Dooley Sarah; Watson Edward A; McManamon Paul F; Xie Huikai

来源：Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems, 2010, 19(6): 1450-1461.

DOI：10.1109/JMEMS.2010.2076777

• Electrothermal bimorph
• microelectromechanical devices
• optical phased array (OPA)
• tip-tilt-piston (TTP) micromirror

A tip-tilt-piston micromirror array based on electrothermal bimorph actuation is presented. The micromirror uses a compactly folded actuator design that can realize high fill-factor with a simple fabrication process. A 4x4 micromirror array with sub-apertures of 0.9 mm and a fill-factor of 54% is demonstrated. A piston actuation of about 200 mu m and tip-tilt scanning of +/- 18 degrees optical angles are obtained at a driving voltage as small as 4.5 Vdc. The mirror';s tip-tilt steering capability and piston control make it promising for optical phased array applications. The phased array concept is demonstrated by phasing two adjacent mirrors on the mirror array. Other device characterizations including frequency, transient response, and mirror surface quality are also reported.

• 出版日期2010-12