Scanning micromirrors: an overview

Abstract

An overview of the current state of the art in scanning micromirror technology for switching, imaging, and beam steering applications is presented. The requirements that drive the design and fabrication technology are covered. Electrostatic, electromagnetic, and magnetic actuation techniques are discussed as well as the motivation toward combdrive configurations from parallel plate configurations for large diameter (mm range) scanners. Suitability of surface micromachining, bulk micromachining, and silicon on insulator (SOI) micromachining technology is presented in the context of the length scale and performance for given scanner applications.