Optical beam scanner

A scanning device comprising:

• a substrate having a first surface and an opposite, parallel second surface;
• a region of the substrate having the first surface and the opposite parallel second surface, wherein the region is defined via an etching process through a thickness of the substrate, and wherein the region remains attached to the substrate via one or more hinges;
• a waveguide patterned over the first surface of the region and configured to guide a beam of radiation along a length of the waveguide;
• a reflector disposed on the first surface of the region and configured to reflect at least a portion of the beam of radiation through the region;
• and
• an optical element disposed on the second surface of the region, and configured to receive the reflected portion of the beam of radiation.

A scanning array, comprising:

• a plurality of individually addressable elements formed from the same substrate, each element of the plurality comprising:
• a region of the substrate having a first surface and an opposite parallel second surface, wherein the region is defined via an etching process through a thickness of the substrate, and wherein the region remains attached to the substrate via one or more hinges,
• a waveguide patterned over the first surface of the region and configured to guide a beam of radiation along a length of the waveguide,
• a reflector disposed on the first surface of the region and configured to reflect at least a portion of the beam of radiation through the region, and
• an optical element disposed on the second surface of the region, and configured to receive the reflected portion of the beam of radiation,
• wherein each element of the plurality of individually addressable elements is configured to steer a corresponding beam of radiation via movement of a corresponding region.