Very low power consumption MEMS scanner with alkali electret comb drive

Abstract

This paper reports the very low power consumption MEMS scanner that utilizes the electrostatic field generated by alkali-ion electret. The alkali-ion electret formed on comb electrodes of the scanner provides built-in potential for the electro-static actuator so that no bias voltage is necessary. The power consumption of prototype MEMS scanner was 0.57 μW (bias voltage: DC 0 V, driving voltage: AC 9 Vpp, deflection angle: 12°, resonance frequency: 1.4 kHz,). It is possible to realize further low power consumption by increasing the force factor of comb-electrodes.