Digital Micromirror Device Begon Martin Ciapala Richard Deaki Zoltan Reliability of MEMS: Case study January 30th 2007
What is a DMD ? Matrix of micromirrors 1024 x 768 mirrors for example Size of the mirrors: 16 x 16 um
What is a DMD ?
Applications Mainly projection systems (Digital Light Processing) Other emerging applications such as 3D metrology, confocal microscopy,digital TV
Hinge fatigue Fatigue: slow growth of a crack driven by repeated plastic deformation Mirror in normal operating mode switches every 200 microseconds 5 years use with 1000 operating hours a year mirrors switch 90x10 9 times
Hinge fatigue First approach: anaylsis using bulk properties of the hinge material showed that fatigue would be a big problem However… accelerated tests proved that wrong, samples easily exceeding 100x10 9 switches showing no fatigue. Explanation: hinge so thin governed by thin film properties!