Stiffening structures for micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) micromirrors
AssigneeMeta Platforms Technologies, LLC
InventorsKenneth Alexander Diest, Katherine Marie Smyth, Daniel Guenther Greif
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Abstract
An apparatus, system, and method for micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) micromirror including a plurality of stiffening structures is described. The MEMS micromirror includes a mirror surface to reflect light, a support platform coupled along a mirror surface, and a plurality of stiffening structures formed from or coupled to the support platform. In some examples, a dimensionality or density of the stiffening structures scale across an area of the support platform in a manner to assist in keeping the mirror surface flat under torsional force.
Claims18
A micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) micromirror, comprising:
- a mirror surface to reflect light;
- a support platform coupled along the mirror surface;
- and
- a plurality of stiffening structures formed from or coupled to the support platform, wherein a relative density of the stiffening structures scales inversely with a height of the stiffening structures as their positions move outward across an area of the support platform in a manner to assist in keeping the mirror surface flat under torsional force.
A method of forming a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) micromirror, comprising:
- forming a support substrate;
- and
- forming a reflective layer over a first surface of the support substrate, wherein the support substrate is formed to include a plurality of stiffening structures on a second surface that is opposite the first surface and wherein a relative density of the plurality of stiffening structures scales inversely with a height of the stiffening structures as their positions move outward across an area of the second surface to assist in keeping the reflective layer optically flat under torsional force.
An optical scanner comprising:
- a light source configured to emit source light;
- a micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) micromirror including a mirror surface to receive the source light;
- and
- processing logic configured to:
- drive the light source to emit the source light;
- and
- drive the MEMS micromirror to rotate about at least one axis to redirect the source light as image light to form an image, wherein the MEMS micromirror includes a plurality of stiffening structures having a density which scales inversely with a height of the stiffening structures across an area of the mirror surface to assist in keeping the mirror surface flat under torsional force about the at least one axis.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.