Two-dimensional miniature optical-scanning sensor with silicon micromachined scanning mirror

For achieving higher performance and for miniaturizing the size of an optical scanning sensor, raising the scanning angle response, increasing the accuracy of detection of the scanning location independent from the environmental temperature, and miniaturizing an optical-scanning sensor were considered And the silicon micromachined two-dimensional optical scanner integrated with a piezoresistor for scanning location detection and a photodiode for optical intensity detection was newly designed and fabricated. The obtained results with the fabricated scanner are following. The scanner is capable of scanning a light beam more than 40 deg. two-dimensionally. The scanning angle sensitivities are 4.8 deg./V for horizontal direction and 10.5 deg./V for vertical direction. The scanning location detection sensitivity for each horizontal and vertical directions are 21 mV/deg. and 26 mV/deg., respectively. The decrease of detection accuracy of scanning location has been reduced to less than 1% within +/- 10 degrees C temperature shift. And the photodetector has a photosensitivity of 0.33 A/W which allows the optical-scanning sensor to detect the reflected light intensity from an object which is 200 mm away from the sensor.