Electroactive polymer (EAP)-based deformable micromirrors and light-valve technology for MOEMS display and imaging systems

Abstract

Electroactive polymers (EAPs) are capable of converting energy in the form of electric charge and voltage to mechanical force and movement and vice versa. Several electroactive polymer actuator materials whose responses are controlled by external electric fields, e.g. poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) based fluoroterpolymers, have generated considerable interest for use in applications such as artificial muscles, sensors, parasitic energy capture, and integrated bio-microelectromechanical systems (BioMEMS) due to their high electric-field induced strain, high elastic modulus, high electromechanical coupling and high frequency operation, etc. The combination of micro-optics and MEMS, referred to as micro-opto-electromechanical systems (MOEMS), makes a new opportunity for innovation in the EAP field. There is a lot of pioneering work on optical beam deflection by electromechanically driven digital micromirrors. In this paper we describe a flexible polymer deformable micromirror (PDM) light-valve technology based on high-performance electroactive polymer materials and microactuators for high-quality electronic projection display and imaging systems. The excellent electromechanical properties of these electroactive polymer microactuators greatly improve the electro-optical properties of the deformable micromirrors and light valves, e.g., optical switching behavior, deformation amplitude and contrast, and low-voltage and high-frequency operation. The material selection, device fabrication, characterization, and a theoretical analysis using the finite element analysis code will be investigated. This technology is compatible with CMOS technology for an active matrix addressing on a chip. High-resolution phase-modulating polymer light valves may permit a lot of future applications, and electroactive polymer micromachining lends flexibility to displays application.