Asymmetric MEMS mirror assembly

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9703096-B2
Application number	US-201514975871-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 21, 2015
Priority date	Sep 30, 2015
Publication date	Jul 11, 2017
Grant date	Jul 11, 2017

Abstract

A mirror assembly includes a frame having a central opening and a mirror plate, which is contained within the central opening of the frame and is shaped to define separate first and second mirrors connected by a bridge extending between the first and second mirrors. A pair of hinges are connected between the frame and the mirror plate at locations on the central axis on opposing sides of the frame so as to enable rotation of the mirror plate about the central axis relative to the frame.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A mirror assembly, comprising:
a frame having a central opening;
a mirror plate, which is contained within the central opening of the frame and is shaped to define separate first and second mirrors connected by a neck extending along a central axis of the mirror plate between the first and second mirrors,
wherein the first mirror has a shape that tapers from a first width to a narrower width in proximity to the neck; and
a pair of hinges, which are connected between the frame and the mirror plate at locations on the central axis on opposing sides of the frame so as to enable rotation of the mirror plate about the central axis relative to the frame.

2. The assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the first and second mirrors have respective first and second widths, and the bridge has a bridge width, all measured in a dimension perpendicular to the central axis, such that the bridge width is less than one-fourth the first and second widths.

3. The assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the first and second mirrors have different, respective shapes and sizes.

4. The assembly according to claim 3 , wherein the second mirror is larger than the first mirror, and wherein the hinges comprise first and second hinges, which are respectively connected between the first and second mirrors and the frame, wherein the second hinge is stiffer than the first hinge.

5. The assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the frame, the mirror plate and the hinges comprise an epitaxial semiconductor material, which is etched to define and separate the mirror plate and the hinges from the frame.

6. The assembly according to claim 5 , wherein a reflective coating is deposited over the semiconductor mirror in an area of the first and second mirrors but is not deposited on the bridge.

7. The assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the hinges comprise torsion hinges.

8. The assembly according to claim 1 , and comprising a first comb extending outward from the mirror plate, and a second comb extending inward from the frame so as to interleave with the first comb, wherein the first and second combs comprise a conductive material.

9. The assembly according to claim 1 , and comprising a base surrounding the frame and rotationally connected to the frame so that the frame rotates, relative to the base, about a frame axis that is perpendicular to the central axis of the mirror plate.

10. A scanning device, comprising:
a scanner, which comprises:
a frame having a central opening;
a mirror plate, which is contained within the central opening of the frame and is shaped to define separate first and second mirrors connected by a neck extending along a central axis of the mirror plate between the first and second mirrors,
wherein the first mirror has a shape that tapers from a first width to a narrower width in proximity to the neck; and
a pair of hinges, which are connected between the frame and the mirror plate at locations on the central axis on opposing sides of the frame so as to enable rotation of the mirror plate about the central axis relative to the frame;

a transmitter, which is configured to emit a beam of light toward the first mirror, which reflects the beam so that the scanner scans the beam over a scene; and
a receiver, which is configured to receive, by reflection from the second mirror, the light reflected from the scene and to generate an output indicative of the light received from points in the scene.

11. The device according to claim 10 , wherein the scanner comprises a base surrounding the frame and rotationally connected to the frame so that the frame rotates, relative to the base, about a frame axis that is perpendicular to the central axis of the mirror plate while the mirror plate rotates relative to the frame.

12. The device according to claim 10 , wherein the mirror plate is configured to rotate about the hinges at a resonant frequency of the scanner, while the bridge is sufficiently stiff to synchronize the rotation of the first and second mirrors in amplitude and phase at the resonant frequency.

13. The device according to claim 10 , wherein the first and second mirrors have respective first and second widths, and the neck has a bridge width, all measured in a dimension perpendicular to the central axis, such that the bridge width is less than one-fourth the first and second widths.

14. The device according to claim 10 , wherein the bridge comprises a neck, which extends along a central axis of the mirror plate, and wherein the first mirror has a shape that tapers from the first width to a narrower width in proximity to the neck so as to inhibit specular reflection of the emitted beam into a field of view of the receiver.

15. The device according to claim 10 , wherein the first and second mirrors have different, respective shapes and sizes.

16. The device according to claim 10 , wherein the scanner comprises a first comb extending outward from the mirror plate, and a second comb extending inward from the frame so as to interleave with the first comb, wherein the first and second combs comprise a conductive material and are configured to drive the rotation of the mirror plate by electrostatic force due to a voltage applied between the first and second combs.

17. A method for producing a mirror assembly, the method comprising etching a semiconductor wafer to define:
a frame having a central opening;
a mirror plate, which is contained within the central opening of the frame and is shaped to define separate first and second mirrors connected by a neck extending along a central axis of the mirror plate between the first and second mirrors,
wherein the first mirror has a shape that tapers from a first width to a narrower width in proximity to the neck; and
a pair of hinges, which are connected between the frame and the mirror plate at locations on the central axis on opposing sides of the frame so as to enable rotation of the mirror plate about the central axis relative to the frame.

18. The method according to claim 17 , wherein the hinges comprise torsion hinges.

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Shpunt Alexander
• Gerson Yuval

Classifications

• B81B2201/042

  Micromirrors, not used as optical switches · CPC title

• G02B26/0841

  the reflecting element being moved or deformed by electrostatic means · CPC title

• B81B2203/0136

  Comb structures · CPC title

• B81B3/0051

  For defining the movement, i.e. structures that guide or limit the movement of an element (mechanical arrangements for preventing or damping vibration or shock H01H3/60) · CPC title

• G02B26/101 Primary

  with both horizontal and vertical deflecting means, e.g. raster or XY scanners (colour television using laser beams scanning a display screen H04N9/3129) · CPC title