| Patent application number | Description | Published |
|---|
| 20080316577 | MEMS DEVICE WITH AN ANGULAR VERTICAL COMB ACTUATOR - A vertical comb electro-static actuator for rotating a micro-electro-mechanical micro-mirror device about a tilt axis or rotation. The rotor comb fingers of the comb drive extend from a sub-frame of the micro-mirror, which includes a prestressed layer for bending the rotor comb fingers at an angle to the substrate and mirrored platform, enabling the platform, the hinges, the rotor comb fingers and the stator comb fingers to be formed in the same layer, i.e. the same etching step. | 12-25-2008 |
| 20090180169 | BIAXIAL MEMS MIRROR WITH HIDDEN HINGE - A multi-layer hidden hinge and actuator design for high fill factor biaxial MEMS mirror array for wavelength selective switches (WSS) based on a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) process with wafer bonding and coarsely aligned orthogonal vertical comb and/or parallel plate actuator. Each micro-mirror in the MEMS linear piano micro-mirror array comprises a micro-mirror layer, a hinge layer and an electrode/substrate layer. Preferably, the roll and tilt electrodes are substantially disposed along the roll axis to provide a high fill factor. The structure is formed by fabricating the layers separately in SOI structure and then bonding them together. | 07-16-2009 |
| 20090190202 | MEMS MICROMIRROR DEVICES WITH ANTI-REFLECTIVE STRUCTURES - Diffractive patterns are disposed on a MEMS substrate in the gaps between the MEMS micromirrors to reduce backreflection of light leaking through the gaps and reflected by the MEMS substrate. The diffractive patterns are silicon surface-relief diffraction gratings or silicon oxide gratings on silicon substrate. Sub-wavelength gratings are used to suppress higher orders of diffraction; 50% duty cycle surface relief gratings on a substrate having index of refraction close to 3 are used to suppress both reflected and transmitted zero orders of diffraction simultaneously. The gratings have lines running parallel or at a slight angle to the gaps, to prevent the diffracted light from re-entering the gaps. | 07-30-2009 |
| 20100103494 | COUNTER-BALANCED MEMS MIRROR WITH HIDDEN HINGE - A multi-layer hidden hinge and actuator design for high fill factor biaxial MEMS mirror array for wavelength selective switches (WSS) based on a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) process with wafer bonding and coarsely aligned orthogonal vertical comb and/or parallel plate actuator. The present invention relates to a micro-mirror in a MEMS linear piano micro-mirror array comprising a micro-mirror layer, a hinge layer and an electrode/substrate layer. The structure is formed by fabricating the layers separately in SOI structure and then bonding them together. | 04-29-2010 |
| 20100172612 | MEMS DEVICE AND A MEMS DEVICE ARRAY - A two-axis tiltable linear array of MEMS micromirrors is described. The individual micromirrors of the array are flexibly suspended over a common substrate by using two pairs of serpentine hinges coupled by a gimbal ring and are actuated by using tilt and roll electrodes. The tilt actuator regions of the micromirrors are disposed within the gimbal rings, the roll hinges connecting the tilt actuator regions to the micromirrors, which provides for decoupling of the tilt and the roll of the micromirror. The structure allows for considerable decoupling of the tilt and the roll and, or the pistoning effects observed upon micromirror actuation. The structure is suitable for application in a wavelength selective optical switch. | 07-08-2010 |
| 20110149361 | MICRO-MIRROR WITH ELECTRODE SPACER - A micro-mirror includes stiffer end sections for limiting curvature, and thin middle sections forming ground electrodes and a hinge. Spacers arc provided beneath the thin middle sections of the micro-mirror for supporting hot electrodes, which attract the ground electrodes for rotating the micro-mirror about a tilt axis. The spacers enable the gap between the hot electrode and the micro-mirror to be designed separately from the thickness of the micro-mirror, and the gap between the ends of the micro-mirror and the substrate. | 06-23-2011 |
| 20110149362 | TILTABLE MEMS MIRROR - A MEMS mirror is disclosed having thickness correlated with the intensity profile of an impinging optical beam, so as to reduce moment of inertia of the MEMS mirror while preserving optical quality of the reflected beam. It is the mirror edges that contribute the most to the moment of inertia, while it is generally the mirror center that contributes the most to a reduction of the quality of an optical beam reflected from the mirror. Accordingly, by providing a mirror having laterally varying thickness matched to the local variation of the intensity of the optical beam, the quality of the latter may be preserved while the moment of inertia of the mirror may be significantly reduced. The thickness of MEMS mirrors may be varied continuously or stepwise; in one direction or in two mutually orthogonal directions. | 06-23-2011 |
