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US 7,710,574 B2Granted
Devices in miniature for interferometric use and fabrication thereof
AssigneeBoard of Regents, The University of Texas System
InventorsJeongsik Sin, Woo Ho Lee
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A device in miniature and fabrication of such a device for interferometric use is described, the device including a substrate with at least one deep reactive ion etching structure on at least one surface of the substrate forming an optical bench. The optical bench preferably comprises a moving stage, an actuator, one or more connector sockets and one or more optical components.
Claims18
A device in miniature, the device comprising:
- a substrate;
- an optical bench on the substrate, the optical bench comprising:
- one or more actuators;
- a moving stage driven by at least one of the actuators;
- a first connector socket with a fixed position relative to the substrate;
- a second connector socket on the moving stage;
- a first optical component coupled to the first connector socket, such that the first optical component is fixed relative to the substrate;
- and
- a second optical component coupled to the second connector socket, such that the second optical component moves with the moving stage, relative to the substrate;
- wherein at least one of the actuators comprises a scanning mechanism comprising at least one elongated rib comprising:
- a top surface;
- at least one side wall formed at least in part by deep reactive ion etching (DRIE);
- dopant in the top surface of the rib;
- and
- dopant in the side wall of the rib in an amount sufficient to increase conductivity of the rib, relative to a rib without a doped top surface and a doped side wall.
12 more elements
A method for assembly of a device in miniature, the method comprising the steps of:
- fabricating an optical bench on a silicon substrate, the optical bench comprising:
- a first connector socket with a fixed position relative to the substrate;
- a moving stage driven by at least one of the actuators;
- and
- a second connector socket on the moving stage;
- using deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) to fabricate one or more actuators for the optical bench, wherein at least one of the actuators comprises a scanning mechanism comprising at least one elongated rib comprising:
- a top surface;
- and
- at least one side wall formed at least in part by DRIE;
- after forming the at least one side wall, doping the top surface of the rib and the side wall of the rib with sufficient dopant to increase conductivity of the rib;
- force fitting a first optical component into the first connector socket, such that the first optical component is fixed relative to the substrate;
- and
- force fitting a second optical component into the second connector socket, such that the second optical component will move with the moving stage, relative to the substrate.
10 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.