Patent ID: 7889416

Claim:
A method of aligning a light beam in an optical scanning system comprising the steps of: generating a light beam which scans in a scan line direction; causing said light beam to be incident on a mirror surface at a first angle to a plane of said mirror surface, said mirror surface forming a portion of a non-deformable mirror structure of an agile beam steering mirror system, said agile beam steering mirror system comprising: a substrate having formed thereon a drive electrode; a laminated piezoelectric bending actuator: said laminated piezoelectric bending actuator attached at a proximal end thereof in a cantilever fashion to said substrate; a first layer of said laminated piezoelectric bending actuator being in electrical contact with said drive electrode; a distal end of said laminated piezoelectric bending actuator is disposed over but not touching said substrate such that a gap is formed between said distal end and said substrate, said distal end free to rotate toward and away from said substrate in response to a voltage potential applied to said first layer of said laminated piezoelectric bending actuator, said rotation thereby changing the size of said gap; and said non-deformable mirror structure having said mirror surface and a mounting surface, said mounting surface have a plurality of mounting posts formed thereon, said non-deformable mirror structure mounted at said mounting posts to said distal end of said laminated piezoelectric bending actuator; and determining the relative size of said gap by measuring changes to a voltage applied to a capacitive sensing electrode located on said substrate below said distal end of said piezoelectric bending actuator at various degrees of rotation of said distal end; and adjusting the position of said light beam in a direction generally perpendicular to said scan line direction, as determined in part by said relative size of said gap, by applying a voltage to said first layer of said laminated piezoelectric bending actuator causing rotation of said distal end of said piezoelectric bending actuator and hence a change in the angle of incidence of said light beam on the plane of said mirror surface; wherein voltages required to be applied to said drive electrode to correct periodic scan line position errors of said light beam is defined by a waveform, and further wherein a definition of said waveform is stored in a memory associated with said agile beam steering memory system, and still further wherein said waveform is provided to a microcontroller together with the relative size of said gap, said microcontroller causing an appropriate voltage potential to be generated by a voltage supply connected to said drive electrode so as to correct for said periodic scan line position errors.