PZT-Actuated and -Sensed Resonant Micromirrors with Large Scan Angles Applying Mechanical Leverage Amplification for Biaxial Scanning.

This article presents design, fabrication and characterization of lead zirconate titanate (PZT)-actuated micromirrors, which enable extremely large scan angle of up to 106° and high frequency of 45 kHz simultaneously. Besides the high driving torque delivered by PZT actuators, mechanical leverage amplification has been applied for the micromirrors in this work to reach large displacements consuming low power. Additionally, fracture strength and failure behavior of poly-Si, which is the basic material of the micromirrors, have been studied to optimize the designs and prevent the device from breaking due to high mechanical stress. Since comparing to using biaxial micromirror, realization of biaxial scanning using two independent single-axial micromirrors shows considerable advantages, a setup combining two single-axial micromirrors for biaxial scanning and the results will also be presented in this work. Moreover, integrated piezoelectric position sensors are implemented within the micromirrors, based on which closed-loop control has been developed and studied.

Note: micro-cantilevers with AlN actuators and PtSi tips for multi-frequency atomic force microscopy.

We report the design, fabrication, and characterization of cantilevers with integrated AlN actuators and conductive PtSi tips for multi-frequency atomic force microscopy. These cantilevers also possess a stepped-rectangular geometry. The excellent dynamic behavior of these cantilevers is investigated using both finite-element simulations and experimental methods. Several imaging experiments are presented to illustrate the efficacy and versatility of these cantilevers.