Auto-focusing and Zooming Systems and Method of Operating Same

摘要

Auto-focusing systems are formed by mounting a lens on a flexible membrane on top of an image sensor. A permanent magnet provides a dominantly perpendicular first magnetic field near the center of the membrane. A coil is also formed on the membrane so that a second magnetic field is produced when current flows in the coil. The interaction between the first and second magnetic field creates an attractive or repulsive force between the permanent magnet and the coil, causing the membrane and the lens to move. The position of the lens is adjusted by the coil current for the focusing operation. An alternative embodiment utilizes attraction between two magnetic poles induced by coil current to adjust lens positions. Zooming capability is realized by stacking multiple lens assemblies on top of each other.