Design of a 2-DOF scanning mirror using flexible membrane and electromagnetic actuators

Micromirrors play a vital role in various fields, including vision systems, optical networking, and laser projects. In this paper, we developed a 2-DOF scanning mirror using flexible membrane and electromagnetic actuator. We have developed two flexible membranes in the sine and pulse shapes, each with a simple and compact structure using 3D printing technology. As a driving mechanism, we developed an unique electromagnetic actuator consisting of two pairs of coils and cross shaped yoke and one permanent magnet. To analyze the magnetic flux in the electromagnetic system, we employed finite element analysis. We conducted experiments with the proposed system with dimensions of 24 mm (width)  \(\times \) $\times$  24 mm (depth)  \(\times \) $\times$  20 mm (height), which corresponds to a mirror with a radius of 3 mm. We conducted experiments and simulations with both flexible membranes in our study. The experimental results show that when an input voltage is ± 5 V, the system using a pulse-shaped membrane achieves a rotation angle ± 3 \(^{\circ }\) ${}^{\circ }$ at the bandwidth of 15 Hz. The proposed 2-D scanning mirror offers significant advantages in terms of its compact, low production cost and simple design.