A High-Frequency Tunable Piezoelectric MEMS Scanner for Fast Addressing Applications

Abstract

We present a high-frequency, tunable, piezoelectric MEMS resonant scanner producing an optical scan angle of more than 2°at frequencies above 100 kHz, with noncontact frequency tuning capabilities. The device is fabricated using a cost-efficient multiuser silicon-on-insulator (SOI) process. The scanner uses thin-film piezoelectric aluminium nitride actuators to drive out-of-plane rotation of a 200 µm diameter mirror plate through mechanical coupling stages. Up to 3.6 kHz frequency tuning is achieved through on-chip thermally actuated non-contact beam tips placed adjacent to the scanner. The scanner is intended for use in small-scale, fast optomechanical applications requiring careful synchronization through frequency tuning.

On-Chip Frequency Tuning of Fast Resonant MEMS Scanner

“…The piezoelectric resonant scanning micromirror devices presented here (see Fig. 1) are a variation of MEMS scanners already described in [13], [19], [3], modified to accommodate additional components for frequency tuning. The scanners consist of a 200 µm circular SOI mirror plate coated with 500 nm of aluminium and connected to a gimbal frame with 20 µm width for mirror dynamic deformation reduction.…”