Utilizing micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) micro-shutter designs for adaptive coded aperture imaging (ACAI) technologies

摘要

Coded aperture imaging (CAI) has been used in both the astronomical and medical communities for years due to its ability to image light at short wavelengths and thus replacing conventional lenses. Where CAI is limited, adaptive coded aperture imaging (ACAI) can recover what is lost. The use of photonic micro-electro-mechanical-systems (MEMS) for creating adaptive coded apertures has been gaining momentum since 2007. Successful implementation of micro-shutter technologies would potentially enable the use of adaptive coded aperture imaging and non-imaging systems in current and future military surveillance and intelligence programs. In this effort, a prototype of MEMS microshutters has been designed and fabricated onto a 3 mm × 3 mm square of silicon substrate using the PolyMUMPS? process. This prototype is a line-drivable array using thin flaps of polysilicon to cover and uncover an 8×8 array of 20 μm apertures. A characterization of the micro-shutters to include mechanical, electrical and optical properties is provided. This prototype, its actuation scheme, and other designs for individual microshutters have been modeled and studied for feasibility purposes. In addition, microshutters fabricated from an Al-Au alloy on a quartz wafer were optically tested and characterized with a 632 nm HeNe laser.