Microelectromechanical devices having brake assemblies therein to control movement of optical shutters and other movable elements

Microelectromechanical devices may include a substrate having first and second optical fibers thereon. An optical shutter may also be provided. This optical shutter is mechanically coupled to a first plurality of arched beams that are supported at opposing ends by support structures which may be mounted on the substrate. A second plurality of arched beams are also provided on a first side of the optical shutter. These arched beams are also supported at opposing ends by support structures. A first brake member is provided that is coupled to the second plurality of arched beams. This first brake member contacts and restricts the optical shutter from moving in the &plusmn;y-direction when the second plurality of arched beams are relaxed, but releases the optical shutter when the second plurality of arched beams move in the &#8722;x direction. This ability to restrict movement of the optical shutter when the second plurality of arched beams are relaxed provides a degree of nonvolatile position retention. A third plurality of arched beams are also preferably provided on a second side of the optical shutter. A second brake member, which is coupled to the third plurality of arched beams, also contacts and restricts the shutter member from moving in the &plusmn;y direction when the third plurality of arched beams are relaxed, but releases the optical shutter when the third plurality of arched beams move in the +x direction.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to electromechanical devices and, more particularly, to microelectromechanical devices.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) have recently been developed as alternatives for conventional electromechanical devices such as relays, actuators, valves and sensors. MEMS devices are potentially low cost devices, due to the use of microelectronic fabrication techniques. New functionality may also be provided because MEMS devices can be much smaller than conventional electromechanical devices.

Many applications of MEMS technology use MEMS actuators. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,923,798 to Aksyuk et al. discloses a micro-machined optical switch that utilizes an electrostatically-driven actuator comprising hinged plates. In particular, the '798 patent discloses an in-plane optical switch having an actuator formed by two vertically-oriented electrodes and linkage from the actuator to an optical device. One of the electrodes is movable and the other is fixed. The optical device is positioned in close proximity to two spaced optical fibers that are aligned to optically communicate with one another. The optical device is movable in and out of an optical path defined by the optical cores of the optical fibers upon application of a horizontal or in-plane displacement of sufficient magnitude. As a voltage is applied across the electrodes by a controlled voltage source, the movable electrode swings towards the fixed electrode. The substantially horizontal displacement of the movable electrodes is transferred, by the linkage, to the optical device. As a result, the optical device moves horizontally or in-plane along a path that places it in, or out of, the optical path as a function of the back and forth oscillatory-type motion of the movable electrode.

Unfortunately, conventional optical switches such as those described in the '798 patent may require the continuous presence of an electrostatic potential across a pair of electrodes to maintain the optical device in a blocking position within the optical path. Accordingly, not only will the switch need to be continuously powered, but an interruption of power to the switch may cause the switch to reset. Thus, notwithstanding conventional microelectromechanical devices, there continues to be a need for improved microelectromechanical devices having reduced power consumption requirements and reduced susceptibility to power interruptions.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide improved microelectromechanical devices.

It is another object of the present invention to provide microelectromechanical optical devices having optical shutters therein that can block and/or redirect optical beams.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide microelectromechanical optical devices having nonvolatile characteristics.

These and other objects, advantages and features of the present invention may be provided by preferred microelectromechanical optical devices that include a substrate having first and second optical fibers thereon. The first and second optical fibers are positioned so that an end of the first optical fiber faces an end of the second optical fiber. An optical shutter is also provided. This optical shutter is mechanically coupled to a first plurality of arched beams that are supported at opposing ends by support structures which may be mounted on the substrate. A second plurality of arched beams are also provided on a first side of the optical shutter. These arched beams are also supported at opposing ends by support structures. According to a preferred aspect of the present invention, a first brake member is provided that is coupled to the second plurality of arched beams. This first brake member contacts and restricts the optical shutter from moving in the y-direction when the second plurality of arched beams are relaxed, but releases the optical shutter when the second plurality of arched beams move in the x direction. This ability to restrict movement of the optical shutter when the second plurality of arched beams are relaxed provides a degree of nonvolatile position retention. A third plurality of arched beams are also preferably provided on a second side of the optical shutter. A second brake member, which is coupled to the third plurality of arched beams, also contacts and restricts the shutter member from moving in the y direction when the third plurality of arched beams are relaxed, but releases the optical shutter when the third plurality of arched beams move in the x direction.

The first plurality of arched beams, which are mechanically coupled to the optical shutter, can be used to control movement of the optical shutter into a gap extending between the ends of the first and second optical fibers. In this position, the optical shutter can operate to limit the degree of optical coupling between the first and second optical fibers and can even be positioned to block all light from being transferred from one fiber to the other. The first and second brake members and the second and third pluralities of arched beams may collectively form a normally-locked brake assembly where the preferably diametrically opposing ends of the first and second brake members contact and restrict movement of the optical shutter or other movable element when the second and third pluralities of arched beams are in relaxed states.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. In the drawings, the thickness of layers and regions are exaggerated for clarity. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. It will be understood that when an element such as a layer, region or substrate is referred to as being on another element, it can be directly on the other element or intervening elements may also be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being directly on another element, there are no intervening elements present. Also, when an element is referred to as being connected or coupled to another element, it can be directly connected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being directly connected or directly coupled to another element, there are no intervening elements present.

Referring now to FIG. 1A , a micromechanical optoelectronic device according to a first embodiment of the present invention includes a substrate 100 (e.g., semiconductor substrate) having first and second optical fibers 140 a and 140 b thereon and preferably mounted thereto. As illustrated, the first and second optical fibers 140 a and 140 b are positioned so that an end of the first optical fiber faces an end of the second optical fiber. As illustrated by the dotted lines, the optical fibers may also be coaxial. An optical shutter 130 is also provided. This optical shutter 130 is mechanically coupled to a first plurality of arched beams 110 a that are supported at opposing ends by support structures 102 c which may be mounted on the substrate 100 .

A second plurality of arched beams 110 b are also provided on a first side of the optical shutter 130 . As illustrated, these arched beams 110 b are supported at opposing ends by support structures 102 a and 102 b. These support structures may also be formed as individual support structures for each beam. In addition, a first brake member 120 a is provided. This first brake member 120 a, which is coupled to the second plurality of arched beams 110 b, contacts and restricts the optical shutter from moving in the y-direction when the second plurality of arched beams 110 b are relaxed, but releases the optical shutter 130 when the second plurality of arched beams 110 b move in the x direction. Similarly, a third plurality of arched beams 110 c are also provided on a second side of the optical shutter 130 . These arched beams 110 c are supported at opposing ends by support structures 102 a and 102 b. A second brake member 120 b is also provided. This second brake member 120 b, which is coupled to the third plurality of arched beams 110 c, contacts and restricts the shutter member 130 from moving in the y direction when the third plurality of arched beams 110 c are relaxed, but releases the optical shutter 130 when the third plurality of arched beams 110 c move in the x direction.

As illustrated by FIG. 1G , the optical shutter 130 may also be formed with a pair of opposing grooves 130 a that receive ends of the first and second brake members 120 a and 120 b when the second and third plurality of arched beams 110 b and 110 c are in relaxed states. The formation of these grooves 130 a will facilitate the simultaneously formation (e.g., patterning) of the optical shutter 130 and the first and second brake members 110 b and 110 c from the same material and may also increase the force applied by the ends of the brake members 120 a and 120 b when the optical shutter 130 is moved to a light blocking position and the brake members 120 a and 120 b engage the sides of the optical shutter.

As illustrated by FIG. 1B , the first plurality of arched beams 110 a that are mechanically coupled to the optical shutter 130 can be used to control movement of the optical shutter 130 into a gap extending between the ends of the first and second optical fibers 140 a and 140 b. In this position, the optical shutter 130 can operate to limit the degree of optical coupling between the first and second optical fibers 140 a and 140 b and can even be positioned to block all light from being transferred from one fiber to the other. As will be understood by those skilled in the art, movement of the first plurality of arched beams 110 a and the optical shutter 130 in the y direction may be controlled with a high degree of precision by establishing a current through one or more of the arched beams 110 a. This current operates to heat the arched beams 110 a (through resistive heating) and causes the thermally arched beams to expand and become displaced in the y direction by a distance proportional to the magnitude of the current. One or more heaters disposed adjacent the beams may also be used to provide conduction heating and expansion of the arched beams. The mechanical coupling between the optical shutter 130 and the first plurality of arched beams 110 a translates into movement of the optical shutter 130 in the y direction (assuming no restriction against movement) when the first plurality of arched beams 110 a expand. The construction and operation of thermally-arched beams as microelectromechanical actuators, switching arrays and positioning apparatus is more fully described in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 5,870,518 to Haake et al., entitled Microactuator for Precisely Aligning an Optical Fiber and an Associated Fabrication Method , U.S. Pat. No. 5,909,078 to Wood et al, entitled Thermal Arched Beam Microelectromechanical Actuators , U.S. Pat. No. 5,955,817 to Dhuler et al., entitled Thermal Arched Beam Microelectromechanical Switching Array and U.S. Pat. No. 5,962,949 to Dhuler et al. entitled Microelectromechanical Positioning Apparatus , the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference.

According to a preferred aspect of the present invention, the first and second brake members 120 a and 120 b and the second and third pluralities of arched beams 110 b and 110 c (and supports 102 a, 102 b ) may collectively form a normally-locked brake assembly that may be used in a plurality of micromechanical devices in addition to micromechanical optoelectronic devices. In particular, the preferably diametrically opposing ends of the first and second brake members 120 a and 120 b contact and restrict movement of the optical shutter 130 when the second and third pluralities of arched beams 110 b and 110 c are in relaxed states (i.e., the temperatures of the arched beams 110 b and 110 c are below of threshold temperature). These relaxed states may be achieved by actively cooling the arched beams 110 b and 110 c or, more preferably, preventing appreciable current i from flowing through the second and third pluralities of arched beams 110 b and 110 c (e.g., i 0). However, as illustrated by FIG. 1B , movement of the optical shutter 130 may be achieved by simultaneously establishing a sufficiently large current i through the first, second and third pluralities of arched beams 110 a, 110 b and 110 c.

Moreover, as illustrated best by FIG. 1C , by returning the second and third pluralities of arched beams 110 b and 110 c to their respective relaxed states before the first plurality of arched beams 110 a are returned to their respective relaxed states, the optical shutter 130 can be clamped in a blocking state where the first and second optical fibers 140 a and 140 b are partially or completely optically decoupled from each other. Here, the frictional clamping force (F c ) provided by the opposing first and second brake members 120 a and 120 b should preferably be greater than the relaxation force (F R1 ) that the first plurality of arched beams 110 a apply to the optical shutter 130 when the current through the plurality of arched beams 110 a is terminated and/or temperature is reduced below the threshold. If this condition is met, nonvolatile position retention can be achieved since removal of power from the optoelectronic device will not disturb the clamped position of the optical shutter 130 . According to a preferred aspect of the present invention, the magnitude of the frictional clamping force F c can be increased by increasing the number of beams in the second and third pluralities of arched beams 110 b and 110 c. For example, the number of arched beams should be chosen so that:

F c ( F R2 S F R3 S )> F R1 (1)

where FR 2 and FR 3 are the relaxation forces that the second and third pluralities of arched beams 110 b and 110 c apply to the first and second brake members 120 a and 120 b and S . is the coefficient of static friction which applies to the interfaces between the opposing sides of the optical shutter 130 and the opposite ends of the brake members 120 a and 120 b. This coefficient of static friction may be increased by controlling the roughness of the ends of the brake members 120 a and 120 b and/or roughness of the sides of the optical shutter 130 . Alternatively, as illustrated by FIG. 1F , a spring 131 element may be incorporated within an optical shutter 130 so that the frictional clamping force (F c ) need not be as great as the above equation requires. In particular, the spring element 131 can reduce the effective relaxation force that is transferred to the end of the optical shutter 130 when the brake assembly is in the clamped position.

Referring now to FIG. 1D , an optoelectronic device according to a second embodiment of the present invention is similar to the embodiment illustrated by FIGS. 1A-1C , however, an optical shutter 135 is provided for directing light away from the axis of the first optical fiber 140 a. As illustrated, this optical shutter 135 has a mirror surface 145 on a distal end thereof that is disposed at an angle relative to the axis of the first optical fiber 140 a. An optoelectronic device according to a third embodiment of the present invention is illustrated by FIG. 1 E. This third embodiment is similar to the embodiment of FIGS. 1A-1C , however, the optical shutter 138 is provided having a notch 148 therein. This notch 148 may improve the clamping reliability of the first and second brake members 120 a and 120 b in the event the relationship defined above by equation (1) is not met. Although not shown, the optical shutter 138 may include a plurality of notches disposed side-by-side along the length of the shutter. These plurality of notches may be provided so that nonvolatile retention of a plurality of clamped positions is more easily achievable.