Agile micromirrors with three degrees of freedom manufactured with liquid MEMS technology

Alan D. Feinerman; Gary Friedman; Elina Kasman; Jonathan Montgomery; Pancham R. Patel; Constantine Megaridis; Eric Howell; Steven H. Collicott

doi:10.1117/12.453226

22 January 2002 Agile micromirrors with three degrees of freedom manufactured with liquid MEMS technology

Alan D. Feinerman, Gary Friedman, Elina Kasman, Jonathan Montgomery, Pancham R. Patel, Constantine Megaridis, Eric Howell, Steven H. Collicott

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 4489, Free-Space Laser Communication and Laser Imaging; (2002) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.453226
Event: International Symposium on Optical Science and Technology, 2001, San Diego, CA, United States

Abstract

The Mesoscopic MEMS (MicroElectroMechanical Systems) technology developed at UIC allows the fabrication of structures not possible with conventional planar thin film patterning methods. These techniques enable the fabrication of an agile micro-mirror that can rapidly tip and tilt by large angles in two independent directions with a small footprint on the substrate. The mirrors can be electrostatically deflected, and rotate around a spherical pivot that is a drop of a conducting liquid. The drop can be forced to spread by applying a small voltage to an electrode surrounding the drop and this provides piston motion for the third degree of freedom. The drop is confined to a lithographically defined wetting area on the mirror and the substrate surfaces. The drop provides a surface tension restoring force to balance the electrostatic torque, as well as electrical and thermal conduction between the mirror and the substrate. The fabrication method uses aligned shadow masks to deposit electrodes on a non-planar substrate. The fabrication requires precision dispensing of approximately 10 pL liquid drops using inkjet printing technology.

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Alan D. Feinerman, Gary Friedman, Elina Kasman, Jonathan Montgomery, Pancham R. Patel, Constantine Megaridis, Eric Howell, and Steven H. Collicott "Agile micromirrors with three degrees of freedom manufactured with liquid MEMS technology", Proc. SPIE 4489, Free-Space Laser Communication and Laser Imaging, (22 January 2002); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.453226

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KEYWORDS

Mirrors

Liquids

Electrodes

Semiconducting wafers

Microelectromechanical systems

Micromirrors

Silicon

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