Claims
- 1. A micro-optical-electrical-mechanical laser scanner comprising:
a silicon-on-insulator substrate having a silicon substrate layer, a buried oxide layer, and a single crystal silicon device layer; a first device layer portion of the single crystal silicon device layer; a micro-mirror fabricated from the first device layer portion; a second device layer portion of the single crystal silicon device layer; a laser attached to the second device layer portion; a hinge connecting the first device layer portion and the second device layer portion of the single crystal silicon device layer; and a bimorph material layer deposited over at least a portion of the hinge, the bi-morph material layer having a built-in stress wherein the micro-mirror and at least a portion of the hinge are released from the buried oxide layer and the bimorph material causes the hinge to move the released micro-mirror out of a horizontal position.
- 2. The invention according to claim 1 wherein the micro-mirror is moved out of the horizontal position to an angle wherein the micro-mirror either directly or indirectly reflects a laser beam emitted from the laser.
- 3. The invention according to claim 1 wherein the hinge is a ribbon hinge.
- 4. The invention according to claim 1 further including a power source generating a potential difference between the hinge and the silicon-on-insulator substrate, whereby the power source controls movement of the micro-mirror.
- 5. The invention according to claim 4 wherein the movement of the micro-mirror results in a scan of the laser beam.
- 6. The invention according to claim 1 wherein the micro-optical-electrical-mechanical laser scanner is used for at least one of barcode scanning, retina scanning, xerographic printing, and laser printing.
- 7. The invention according to claim 1 wherein the laser diode is integrated onto the substrate by micropositioning.
- 8. The invention according to claim 4 wherein the mirror has a resonant frequency determined by a stiffness of the hinge and a weight of the mirror.
- 9. The invention according to claim 8 wherein the resonant frequency is configurable up to the tens of kHz.
- 10. The invention according to claim 1 wherein an angle of the mirror once released is approximately 45 degrees relative to the silicon-on-insulator substrate surface and an angle between the hinge and the silicon-on-insulator substrate surface is approximately 22.5 degrees.
- 11. The invention according to claim 1 wherein a lift height of the hinge is expressed as:
- 12. The invention according to claim 1 wherein electronic circuitry for driving the micro-mirror and laser are fabricated in the device layer of the silicon-on-insulator substrate.
- 13. A micro-optical-electrical-mechanical laser scanner comprising:
a silicon-on-insulator substrate having a silicon substrate layer, a buried oxide layer, and a single crystal silicon device layer; a first micro-mirror fabricated from a portion of the single crystal silicon device layer released from the buried oxide layer; a first hinge connecting the micro-mirror to the silicon-on-insulator substrate; a first bimorph material layer deposited over at least a portion of the hinge, the bimorph material having a built-in stress wherein the bimorph material causes the hinge to move the released micro-mirror out of a horizontal position; a second micro-mirror fabricated from a portion of the single crystal silicon device layer released from the buried oxide layer; a second hinge connecting the micro-mirror to the silicon-on-insulator substrate; a second bimorph material layer deposited over at least a portion of the hinge, the bimorph material having a built-in stress wherein the bimorph material causes the hinge to move the released micro-mirror out of a horizontal position; a carrier substrate bonded to a bottom surface of the silicon handle wafer layer of the silicon-on-insulator layer, a laser integrated on a surface of the carrier substrate, at a location permitting a laser beam exiting the laser to be reflected off of the first micro-mirror,
- 14. The invention according to claim 13 wherein the first micro-mirror and second micro-mirror are positioned in relationship to each other such that the reflected laser beam from the first micro-mirror is reflected off the second micro-mirror at an angle perpendicular to the surface of the device layer.
- 15. The invention according to claim 13 further including a third micro-mirror positioned between the first and second micro-mirrors, the first micro-mirror angled to reflect the laser beam to the third micro-mirror, and the third micro-mirror positioned in relationship to the second micro-mirror to reflect the laser beam off of the second micro-mirror at an angle perpendicular to the device layer.
- 16. The invention according to claim 14 wherein the first, second, and third micro-mirrors are driven by at least one of electrostatic and magnetic action.
- 17. The invention according to claim 15 wherein the third micro-mirror is an in-plane torsion hinge mirror.
Government Interests
[0001] The U.S. Government has a paid up license in this invention and the right, in limited circumstances, to require the patent owner to license others on reasonable terms as provided for by the terms of contract number 70NANB8H4014, awarded by NIST.