MEMS Mirror Arrays for Beam Steering

In the Phase I effort, Umachines, Inc. has successfully proved the feasibility of fabricating optically flat micromirrors made of single crystalline silicon (SCS) with the hidden spring underneath the mirror surface to avoid any undesirable diffraction effects. Each mirror pixel is covered with the gold coating to improve the reflectivity of near infra red light and surface roughness of each mirror pixel is on the order of 20 nm. The fill factor of the micromirror arrays is 97%. Based on the results from the Phase I program, we are proposing to optimize the current fabrication processes and improve the yield rate of micromirror arrays. This will enable us to make larger mirror arrays with reasonable aperture sizes to handle laser beams used in munitions. Additionally, electronic driving circuits and control mechanism will be developed as well to complete a beam steering system. A physical working prototype is scheduled to be demonstrated at the end of the project.