Quasi-Static Operation of 2-Axis-Tilt Microscanners with AlN Piezoelectric Quad-Actuators

Abstract

Aluminum nitride (AlN) started to draw attentions as a material for piezoelectric actuation owing to its CMOS process compatibility and safeness for biomedical applications. Due to its relatively low piezoelectric coefficients, AlN-based piezoelectric actuators have been mostly operated in resonance modes, especially in optical scanning. This paper presents a novel design of a 2-axis-tilt microscanner with AlN piezoelectric quad-actuators and meander-shaped hinges for reasonable quasi-static operation. Through finite-element-method simulation, it is shown that the proposed device can have about 9 degree of optical scan angle in two dimensions with the voltage amplitude of 50 V. Lissajous scanning operation of the device is demonstrated as well via simulation.