A curved multimorph based electrothermal micromirror with large scan range and low drive voltage

Analysis, simulation and fabrication of curved multimorphs that undergo bending and twisting

“…Xu et al report a micromirror actuated by curved multimorphs, but do not give insight into the differences between curved and straight multimorphs [6]. We have reported micromirrors actuated by curved thermal multimorph concentric to the mirror-plate [7,8].…”

Multi-Response Optimization of Electrothermal Micromirror Using Desirability Function-Based Response Surface Methodology

“…The temperature in the bimorph actuators is simulated to be 380 °C, while a very high temperature of 770 °C in the comb-drive supporting beam is reported. For an electrothermally actuated micromirror, temperature values of nearly 160 °C and 65 °C in the Al/W bimorph actuator and mirror plate, respectively, are reported in [ 14 ]. For the optimized micromirror design, presented in this paper, the temperature distribution in the micromirror ( Figure 12 ) shows a temperature increase of nearly 106 °C and 27.4 °C from the ambient in the bimorph actuator and micromirror plate, respectively.…”

“…Moreover, the electrothermal micromirrors have almost linear response between the deflection angle and actuation voltage, high fill factor, simple design, and easy fabrication process. These characteristics make electrothermal micromirrors a suitable choice for biomedical imaging applications [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ]. The electrothermal actuators may be designed using either a single thin-film metal structural layer to achieve an in-plane or out-of-plane deflection corresponding to an applied voltage [ 15 , 16 ] or a combination of two material layers (typically a metal and dielectric) bonded at an interface with a significant difference in their coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE) [ 17 , 18 , 19 ].…”

Two-dimensional scanning using two single-axis low-voltage PZT resonant micromirrors

“…This performance is sufficient for SXGA resolution displays. In contrast to these two driving principles 2D electrothermal micromirrors can reach large optical scan angles but at very low frequencies, which are rather suitable for biomedical imaging applications [4].…”