Two-axis electromagnetic microscanner for high resolution displays

A novel microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) actuation technique is developed for retinal scanning display and imaging applications allowing effective drive of a two-axes scanning mirror to wide angles at high frequency. Modeling of the device in mechanical and electrical domains, as well as the experimental characterization is described. Full optical scan angles of 65 degrees and 53 degrees are achieved for slow (60 Hz; sawtooth) and fast (21.3 kHz sinusoid) scan directions, respectively. In combination with a mirror size of 1.5 mm, a resulting theta D-opt product of 79.5 deg(.)mm for fast axis is obtained. This two-dimensional (2-D) magnetic actuation technique delivers sufficient torque to allow non-resonant operation as low as dc in the slow-scan axis while at the same time allowing one-atmosphere operation even at fast-scan axis frequencies large enough to support SXGA (1280 x 1024) resolution scanned beam displays.