A Surface Micromachined Optical Scanner Array Using Photoresist Lenses Fabricated by a Thermal Reflow Process

This paper presents the design, fabrication, and operation of a newly developed micromechanical optical scanner array using a translating microlens. We have used photoresist reflow techinique to form a microlens on a surface micromachined -stage of the scratch-drive actuation mechanism. The lens scanner is placed at the focal length from an incident optical fiber to collimate the transmitting light. The collimated beam is steered two-dimensionally by the -motion of the microlens with respect to the incident fiber. We also have developed a theoretical model to predict appropriate initial resist thickness and diameter for the scanning lens. An optical scanning angle of 7 has been demonstrated by sliding a microlens of 670m focal length at a physical stroke of 67 m. Typical angular positioning resolution has been estimated to be 0.018 .