Patent ID: 7542200

Claim:
An agile beam steering mirror system comprising: an agile beam steering assembly, said assembly comprising: a substrate having formed thereon a first drive electrode, a second drive electrode, and a capacitive sensing 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 first drive electrode and a second layer of said laminated piezoelectric bending actuator is in electrical contact with said second drive electrode; a distal end of said laminated piezoelectric bending actuator is disposed over said capacitive sensing electrode 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 at least one layer of said laminated piezoelectric bending actuator, said rotation thereby changing the size of said gap; and a mirror structure having a first, reflective surface and a second, mounting surface, said second mounting surface have a plurality of mounting posts formed thereon, said mirror structure mounted at said mounting posts to said distal end of said laminated piezoelectric bending actuator; a capacitive sensing circuit for producing an output signal representative of the relative size of said gap; a voltage supply for providing a driving voltage having a desired waveform to said laminated piezoelectric bending actuator, said waveform determining the rotation of said distal end of said laminated piezoelectric bending actuator, and hence the position of said mirror structure relative to said substrate; and a microcontroller for controlling said waveform provided to said laminated piezoelectric bending actuator based in part on said output signal of said capacitive sensing circuit; wherein said agile beam steering mirror system is a portion of a ROS system, and further wherein said waveform provided to said laminated piezoelectric bending actuator is based in part on measured scan line error in said ROS system.