Controllable, continuous and large tilt optical micromirror device integrated with VLSI technologies

这项研究计划的目标是开发一个集成的技术平台，在这个平台上，微光学镜子可以在电信行业最期望的范围内连续倾斜。标准CMOS/BiCMOS工艺将用于制造和微尺度驱动的新概念将被探索。静电驱动因其低功耗而受到许多微机电系统（MEMS）应用的青睐。静电致动器的一个重要特性（或限制）是其拉入电压，超过拉入电压时，静电转矩超过机械转矩，活动板就会突然卡在固定电极平面上。典型静电致动器的全倾斜范围只有30%是可控的。本项目的一个主要目标是大幅度提高活动板的可控倾斜度。它将通过“智能”电极和混合驱动方案来实现。另一方面，光网络组件操作的复杂性要求复杂的电子操作。提出的工作将基于VLSI平台，并将开发一种电子控制算法来解决静电反射镜的捕获效应。支持电路将包括电源、D/A和A/D转换、数据采集、信号调理和数字信号处理。该系统的应用包括各种显示子系统、条形码扫描、自适应光学系统、微流体和电信。在通信领域，它可以用作空间光调制器，用于衰减器、均衡器、多路复用器、交叉连接器、数据发送器和光开关等产品。光学MEMS和微电子的集成不仅为显着的性能和成本改进提供了巨大的潜力，而且还为许多基于离散元件的系统不可行的新应用打开了大门。

The objective of this proposed research program is to develop an integrated technology platform where a micro optical mirror can be tilted continuously over a range most desired by telecom industry. Standard CMOS/BiCMOS processes will be used for the fabrications and novel concepts of micro-scale actuations will be explored.      Electrostatic actuation is favored for many MicroElectroMechanicalSystem (MEMS) applications because of its low power consumption. An important property (or limitation) of the electrostatic actuators is their pull-in voltage, beyond which the electrostatic torque overcomes the mechanical torque, the movable plate snaps abruptly to the fixed electrode plane. Only 30% of the full tilt range of a typical electrostatic actuator is controllable. One major goal of this project is to increase the controllable tilt of movable plate substantially. It will be achieved using "intelligent" electrodes and hybrid actuation scheme.      In another aspect, complexities of optical network component operation require sophisticated electronics operations. The proposed efforts will be based on VLSI platform and an electronic control algorithm will be developed to address the snapping effect of the electrostatic mirror. Supporting circuitry will include power supply, D/A and A/D conversion, data acquisition, signal conditioning, and digital signal processing.         The applications for the proposed systems include a variety of display subsystems, bar code scanning, adaptive optics systems, microfluidics and telecommunications. In telecommunication field, it can be used as spatial light modulators for products like attenuators, equalizers, multiplexers, cross-connects, data transmitters and optical switches. The integration of optical MEMS and micro-electronics offers enormous potential for not only significant performance and cost improvement, but also opening the doors for many novel applications which are not feasible for discrete components based system.