Microvision, Inc.

Jun Yan

John R Lewis

Randall Brian Sprague

Wyatt Owen Davis

Dean R Brown

Jason B Tauscher

Thomas W Montague

Chancellor W Brown

Clarence T Tegreene

Christopher A Wiklof

Vincenzo Casasanta, Iii

Hakan Urey

Selso Luanava

Frank A DeWitt, Iv

A MEMS oscillator, such as a MEMS scanner, has an improved and simplified drive scheme and structure. Drive impulses may be transmitted to an oscillating mass via torque through the support arms. For multi-axis oscillators drive signals for two or more axes may be superimposed by a driver circuit and transmitted to the MEMS oscillator. The oscillator responds in each axis according to its resonance frequency in that axis. The oscillator may be driven resonantly in some or all axes. Improved load distribution results in reduced deformation. A simplified structure offers multi-axis oscillation using a single moving body. Another structure directly drives a plurality of moving bodies. Another structure eliminates actuators from one or more moving bodies, those bodies being driven by their support arms.

Driving a MEMS scanner with a combined actuator drive signal

MEMS device having simplified drive

A MEMS scanning device includes more than one type of actuation. In one approach capacitive and magnetic drives combine to move a portion of the device along a common path. In one such structure, the capacitive drive comes from interleaved combs. In another approach, a comb drive combines with a pair of planar electrodes to produce rotation of a central body relative to a substrate. In an optical scanning application, the central body is a mirror. In a biaxial structure, a gimbal ring carries the central body. The gimbal ring may be driven by more than one type of actuation to produce motion about an axis orthogonal to that of the central body. In another aspect, a MEMS scanning device is constructed with a reduced footprint.

MEMS scanner with dual magnetic and capacitive drive

Growing community of inventors

Cincinnati, OH, United States of America

Jun Yan