AlN film based piezoelectric large-aperture MEMS scanning micromirror integrated with angle sensors

Abstract

This paper reports on the successful implementation of an aluminum nitride (AlN) piezoelectric film for the fabrication of a large-aperture MEMS scanning micromirror. To overcome the shortcoming of the relatively low piezoelectric coefficients of AlN film, a leverage amplification mechanism and resonant amplification effect are employed to amplify the scan angle of the mirror plate. Compared to conventional PZT piezoelectric micromirrors, the fabricated AlN film-based micromirror has demonstrated excellent compatibility with the current MEMS process. In particular, piezoelectric angle sensors are monolithically integrated without any additional process or material. The test results indicate the great linear actuation relationship and the good signal quality of the integrated angle sensors. Therefore, the proposed AlN micromirror will provide a new promising option for vast optical microsystem applications.

Design, Simulation, Fabrication, and Characterization of an Electrothermal Tip-Tilt-Piston Large Angle Micromirror for High Fill Factor Segmented Optical Arrays

“…There are different actuation mechanisms that have been used to generate motion on micromirror devices, including piezoelectric [15][16][17], electromagnetic [18][19][20], electrostatic [1,8,[21][22][23], and electrothermal [24][25][26]. Additionally, there has been work on high energy density (HED) materials [27] such as vanadium dioxide (VO 2 ) [13,28] and shape memory alloy (SMA) [29].…”

Modeling and Optimization of a Novel ScAlN-Based MEMS Scanning Mirror with Large Static and Dynamic Two-Axis Tilting Angles

“…However, both dynamic and static mirror operation modes of this device have the tilting angles of only about 0.2°/V and 0.005°/V, respectively, which is attributed to low piezoelectric coefficients of AlN material. Besides, a similar AlN-based micromirror with a larger aperture has also been developed [ 25 ], while its static analysis shows a very low mechanical rotation efficiency owing to the under-optimized actuator design. Based on Table 1 , ScAlN, as a significantly higher performance piezoelectric material than AlN and PZT, can be used to deliver a large mechanical tilting angle of ±14° at 150 V DC [ 11 , 26 , 27 ], in addition to the aforementioned inherent superiorities in AlN-based micromirrors.…”

Evaluation of Residual Stress of C Oriented AlN/Si (111) and Its Impact on Mushroom Shaped Piezoelectric Resonator 

“…Micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) based sensors and actuators are used in a wide variety of applications like military, aerospace, industrial, consumer electronics, healthcare, as well as in agriculture and environment monitoring [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. The devices like pressure sensors, accelerometers, gyroscope, and temperature sensors are the few most sort after MEMS sensors for these applications [8,[11][12][13][14][15].…”