Design Methodology for Microelectromechanical Systems. Case Study: Torsional Scanner Mirror

Future optical microsystems, such as microelectromechanical system (MEMS) scanners and micromirrors, will extend the resolution and sensitivity offered by their predecessors. These systems face the challenge of achieving nanometer precision subjected to various disturbances. Predicting the performance of such systems early in the design process can significantly impact the design cost and also improve the quality of the design. Our approach aims to predict the performance of such systems under various disturbance sources and develop a generalized design approach for MEMS structures. In this study, we used ANSYS for modeling and dynamic analysis of a torsional MEMS scanner mirror. ANSYS modal analysis results, which are eigenvalues (natural frequencies) and eigenvectors (mode shapes), are used to obtain the state-space representation of the mirror. The state-space model of the scanner mirror was reduced using various reduction techniques to eliminate the states that are insignificant for the transfer functions of interest. The results of these techniques were compared to obtain the best approach to obtain a lower order model that still contains all the relevant dynamics of the original model. After the model size is reduced significantly, a disturbance analysis is performed using Lyapunov approach to obtain root-mean-square values of the mirror rotation angle under the effect of a disturbance torque. The magnitude levels of the disturbance torque are obtained using an experimental procedure. The disturbance analysis framework is combined with the sensitivity analysis to determine the critical design parameters for optimizing the system performance.