JP2003035874A - Thin-film slide connecting mechanism and its manufacturing method, and mirror device and optical switch using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To actualize size reduction and more improved mass-productivity while maintaining superior optical characteristics. SOLUTION: A mirror device is equipped with a mirror 2 and a support mechanism which elastically supports the mirror 2 over a substrate 1 so that the mirror can slant in an arbitrary direction. The support mechanism has three support parts 3A to 3C which mechanically connect the substrate 1 and mirror 2. The support parts 3A to 3C each have one or more leaf spring part 5 which is composed of one or more layers of thin films. One end part of the leaf spring part 5 is connected to the substrate 1 through a leg part 9. The other end part of the leaf spring part 5 is mechanically connected to the mirror 2 by a thin-film slide connecting mechanism. The connecting mechanism has an oblong hole 2c bored in the mirror 2 and an insertion part 10 which is run through the oblong hole 2c with clearance and fixed to the other end part of the leaf spring part 5.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thin film slide connection mechanism, a method for manufacturing the same, a mirror device and an optical switch using the same. This optical switch can be used, for example, in an optical communication device, an optical transmission device, or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the recent development of optical communication technology, the importance of optical switches for switching optical paths is increasing.
The optical switch includes a mechanical optical switch having a movable part such as a mirror and an electronic optical switch utilizing an electro-optical effect or the like. The mechanical optical switch is superior to the optical optical switch in optical characteristics such as insertion loss and crosstalk, and is excellent in essential basic characteristics. However, the mechanical optical switch has been considered to be significantly inferior to the electronic optical switch in terms of downsizing and mass productivity.

However, in recent years, MEMS (Micro-Electr
With the development of o-Mechanical System technology, a mechanical optical switch has been proposed which utilizes this to improve the degree of integration and mass productivity.

A conventional mechanical optical switch using such a MEMS technique adopts the same principle as that disclosed in Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 56-36401, as the principle of switching the optical path, and can move in and out of the optical path. The mirrors that can move linearly are arranged in a two-dimensional matrix. That is, the optical switch includes a substrate on which M × N mirrors are arranged, M optical input optical fibers arranged along one side of the substrate, and another side orthogonal to the one side of the substrate. It is composed of N optical output optical fibers arranged in parallel. The M × N mirrors move linearly in the normal direction of the substrate so that they can advance and retreat at the intersections of the outgoing optical paths of the M optical input optical fibers and the incident optical paths of the optical output optical fibers. In order to obtain, it is arranged on the substrate in a two-dimensional matrix form.

[0005]

However, in the conventional mechanical optical switch utilizing the above-mentioned MEMS technology, in order to switch the light from the M optical input optical fibers to the N optical output optical fibers. M × N mirrors arranged in a two-dimensional matrix are required, and the number of mirrors has increased. For example, if the light from 1000 optical input optical fibers is to be switched to 1000 optical output optical fibers, it is necessary to arrange 1,000,000 mirrors in a two-dimensional matrix on the substrate. Therefore,
The above-mentioned conventional mechanical optical switch uses the MEMS technology and is smaller than the conventional mechanical switch and has improved mass productivity, but it is not always sufficient.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and is smaller than the conventional optical switch described above while maintaining excellent optical characteristics by switching the optical path by using a mirror. An object of the present invention is to provide an optical switch capable of further improving mass productivity.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a mirror device suitable for such an optical switch and the like, a thin film slide connection mechanism and a method for manufacturing the same.

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a mirror device according to a first aspect of the present invention comprises a substrate, a mirror composed of one or more thin films, and the mirror with respect to the substrate. And a support mechanism for elastically supporting the base so as to be tiltable in an arbitrary direction while floating from the base, and the mirror tilts with respect to the base in a direction and a tilt amount according to a drive signal supplied. The supporting mechanism has one or more (that is, one or more) supporting portions that mechanically connect the base and the mirror, and each supporting portion has one or more layers. 1 composed of a thin film of
A leaf spring having one or more leaf spring portions and corresponding to one end of a mechanical connection route formed by the one or more leaf spring portions in at least one of the one or more support portions. One end of the portion is mechanically connected to the mirror by a thin film slide connection mechanism that mechanically connects the one end and the mirror relatively slidably, and the thin film slide mechanism includes the mirror and the mirror. Of the leaf spring portion corresponding to the one end portion of the connection route, an elongated hole formed in one side, and with a play in the elongated hole, the mirror and the one end portion of the connection route. An insertion portion fixed to the other of the corresponding leaf spring portions is provided, and the insertion portion is configured to be prevented from coming off from the elongated hole.

According to the first aspect, the support mechanism for elastically supporting the mirror with respect to the base body in a state of being floated from the base body and tiltable in an arbitrary direction includes a leaf spring portion formed of a thin film. Since it has the above-described structure used, the structure is simple, and it can be easily manufactured by using the film forming technique in the semiconductor manufacturing process. Then, in at least one support portion of the one or more support portions, one end portion of the leaf spring portion corresponding to one end portion of a mechanical connection route formed by the one or more leaf spring portions is the thin film. It is mechanically connected to the mirror by a slide connection mechanism.
Therefore, the stress that is about to occur due to tilting of the mirror is alleviated by this thin film slide connection mechanism,
The mechanical strength can be increased and the tilting movement of the mirror becomes smooth.

A mirror device according to a second aspect of the present invention is the mirror device according to the first aspect, wherein N is an integer of 3 or more, and the number of the one or more supporting portions is N. By the thin-film slide connection mechanism, in the vicinity of N points of the mirror forming an angle of 360 ° / N on a circle having a predetermined radius centered on the center of the mirror, respectively. It is slidably supported on.

When the number of supporting portions is set to three or more and the supporting portions of the mirrors are set by the number as in the second aspect,
This is preferable because the mirror can be supported more stably and tiltably in any direction.

An optical switch according to the third aspect of the present invention comprises:
In the optical switch for causing the light emitted from one or more light input units to enter any one of the plurality of light output units,
Alternatively, the mirror device according to the second aspect is included, and the light emitted from the one or more light input units is reflected by the mirror of the mirror device and then enters any of the plurality of light output units. It is a thing.

According to the third aspect, since the mirror device according to the first or second aspect is used,
A large number of output optical paths can be switched by the same number of mirrors as the input optical paths. For example, 1000 input optical paths can be switched to 1000 output optical paths by 1000 mirrors. Therefore, according to the third aspect, since the number of mirrors can be reduced, the size and mass productivity are significantly improved as compared with the mechanical optical switch using the conventional MEMS technology described above. Of course, since the optical path is switched using the mirror, the optical characteristics such as insertion loss and crosstalk are superior to those of the electronic optical switch.

A thin film slide connection mechanism according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is a mechanism in which a first member having a flat plate-like portion formed of one or more thin films and a second member are slidable relative to each other. In the thin film slide connection mechanism, the elongated portion is formed in the flat plate portion, and the insertion portion inserted with play in the elongated hole is fixed to the second member. The part is configured to be prevented from coming off from the elongated hole. The second member may be composed of one or more layers of thin film, or may have another structure.

The thin film slide connection mechanism according to the fourth aspect can be suitably used for the above-described mirror device according to the present invention. However, the application of the thin film slide connection mechanism according to the fourth aspect is not limited to this, and the thin film slide connection mechanism can be used in various other MEMS and other various micromachines.

A method of manufacturing a thin film slide mechanism according to a fifth aspect of the present invention is a method of manufacturing the thin film slide connection mechanism according to the fourth aspect, wherein the first and second methods are used.
And a step of removing the sacrificial layer interposed between the members.

According to the fifth aspect, since the sacrificial layer is used, the thin film slide connection mechanism according to the fourth aspect can be easily manufactured.

[0018]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A thin film slide connecting mechanism and a method for manufacturing the same, a mirror device and an optical switch using the same will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[First Embodiment]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view schematically showing a unit element of a mirror device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along the line OA in FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along the line O-D in FIG. Although not shown in the drawing, the schematic sectional view taken along the line OB in FIG. 1 and the schematic sectional view taken along the line OC in FIG. 1 are the same as those in FIG. In the following explanation,
The top and bottom shall be according to FIG.

In the mirror device according to this embodiment, a substrate 1 such as a Si substrate or a glass substrate (its surface is parallel to the paper surface in FIG. 1) as a substrate, a mirror 2, and a mirror 2 are provided on the substrate 1. A support mechanism that elastically supports the substrate 1 so that the mirror 2 can be tilted in any direction while floating from the substrate 1;
It is configured to lean against.

In the present embodiment, the mirror 2 has one layer of A
The film 1 is formed in a disk shape, and a falling portion 2b is formed over the entire circumference of the plate-shaped disk portion 2a. The diameter of the mirror 2 is, for example, on the order of millimeters. Figure 1
The inside O indicates the center of the mirror 2. Since the strength of the disc portion 2a is reinforced by the falling portion 2b, the flatness of the disc portion 2a can be ensured, and the thickness of the disc portion 2a can be reduced to reduce the weight. The same applies when a rising edge is formed instead of the falling edge 2b. However,
In the present invention, it is not always necessary to form the falling portion 2b or the rising portion. The material of the mirror 2 is not limited to the Al film, but may be another material, or may be composed of two or more layers of different materials. Furthermore, mirror 2
The shape of is not limited to a circle, and may be, for example, a rectangle. Furthermore, by increasing the diameter of the mirror 2, in addition to the central region (effective mirror region) that substantially acts as a mirror, the peripheral region (ineffective mirror region, which does not substantially act as a mirror, For example, a light-shielding film may be formed). In this case, if a long hole 2c, which will be described later, is arranged in the peripheral region, the light amount reflected by the mirror 2 can be increased without reducing the light amount reflected by the long hole 2c and the like.

In the present embodiment, the mirror 2 is the mirror 2
It also serves as a movable-side common electrode that applies an electrostatic force as a driving force for tilting. However, for example, when the mirror 2 is composed of a lower insulating film (SiN film or the like) and an upper Al film, three electrodes are provided on the lower surface of the mirror 2 independently of each other on the substrate 1 described later. Electrodes 4a, 4b, 4c
May be formed so as to face each other.

In the present embodiment, the support mechanism is composed of three support parts 3A, 3B and 3C each mechanically connecting the substrate 1 and the mirror 2 to each other. Since these supporting portions 3A to 3C have the same structure, only the supporting portion 3A will be described here.

The support portion 3A has one leaf spring portion 5. The leaf spring portion 5 is composed of a two-layer thin film in which a lower SiN film 6 and an upper Al film 7 are laminated. The material and the number of layers of the leaf spring portion 5 are not limited to this, and the number of layers may be one or more. As shown in FIG. 1, the leaf spring portion 5 is formed in a straight line shape extending in the radial direction of the mirror 2 in a plan view seen from the direction normal to the surface of the substrate 1. Also,
As shown in FIG. 2, the leaf spring portion 5 is warped upward (on the side opposite to the substrate 1) at least in a state where the drive signal is not supplied. 2 and 3 show a state in which the drive signal is not supplied. The leaf spring portion 5 does not necessarily have to warp upward, but if the leaf spring portion 5 warps upward as in the present embodiment, the height of the mirror 2 can be increased, which is preferable.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, one end of the leaf spring portion 5 rises from the substrate 1 via a wiring pattern 8 (not shown in FIG. 1) made of an Al film formed on the substrate 1. It is mechanically connected to the substrate 1 via a leg portion 9 having a rising portion. In the present embodiment, the legs 9 are
It is configured by extending the SiN film 6 and the Al film 7 forming the leaf spring portion 5 as they are. The Al film 7 is also used as a wiring that electrically connects the mirror 2 that is also used as an electrode to the wiring pattern 8, and in the leg portion 9, Si is used.
It is electrically connected to the wiring pattern 8 through an opening formed in the N film 6. In addition, in the present embodiment, the wiring patterns 8 of the respective support portions 3A to 3C are electrically connected in common.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the other end of the leaf spring portion 5 is formed by a thin film slide connecting mechanism for mechanically connecting the end portion and the mirror 2 relatively slidably. It is mechanically connected to the mirror 2. In the present embodiment, the thin film slide connection mechanism includes a long hole 2c formed in the disc portion (flat plate portion) 2a of the mirror 2 and a leaf spring portion 5 inserted with play in the long hole 2c. And an insertion portion 10 fixed to the end portion. In the present embodiment, as described above, the long hole 2c has the leaf spring portion 5 in plan view.
Along with linearly extending in the radial direction of, the mirror 2 linearly extends in the radial direction.

Since the width of the slot 2c (the width in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface in FIG. 2; see also FIG. 1) is made slightly wider (for example, on the order of microns) than the width of the insertion portion 10, the slot 2c A play (a gap in the width direction of the elongated hole 2c) is formed between the 2c and the insertion portion 10. The retaining portion 50 formed on the upper portion of the insertion portion 10 is formed in a flange shape having a width wider than the width of the elongated hole 2c, and the retaining portion 50 prevents the insertion portion 10 from falling out of the elongated hole 2c. It has become. Further, in the present embodiment, in order to increase the height of the mirror 2, the lower end of the insertion portion 10 has the flange portion 11a upward.
It is fixed to the other end of the leaf spring portion 5 via a spacer 11 having a. The width of the flange portion 11a is made wider than the width of the elongated hole 2c, and the flange portion 11a prevents the gap between the mirror 2 and the other end of the leaf spring portion 5 from being narrowed. However, such a spacer 11 is not always necessary. For example, the spacer 11 may be removed and the lower end of the insertion portion 10 may be directly fixed to the other end of the leaf spring portion 5.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the insertion portion 10 having the retaining portion 50 is composed of the Al films 13 and 14 and the resist 15 inside them, and the spacer 11 having the flange portion 11a is formed. It is composed of Al films 16 and 17 and a resist 18. Although it is shown as if they are not in contact with each other in FIG.
Since any one of 3 and 17 inevitably comes into contact with the mirror 2, the mirror 2 is electrically connected to the Al film 7 forming the leaf spring portion 5, and further electrically connected to the wiring pattern 8. .

The thin film slide connection mechanism is not limited to the above-mentioned structure. For example, mirror 2
Instead of providing the elongated hole 2c in the above, an elongated hole is provided in the other end of the leaf spring portion 5, and the insertion portion is inserted into this elongated hole and fixed to the mirror 2 so that the insertion portion does not come off from the elongated hole. Thus, for example, a flange-shaped retaining portion may be provided below the insertion portion.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, all of the supporting portions 3A to 3C are arranged at positions hidden by the mirror 2 in a plan view of the substrate 1 viewed from the mirror 2 side. Further, the support portions 3A to 3C are arranged such that the leaf spring portions 5 thereof extend in the radial direction of the mirror 2 in a plan view. Further, each thin film slide connection mechanism of the three support portions 3A to 3C forms an angle of 120 ° (= 360 ° / 3) on a circle having a predetermined radius centered on the center O of the mirror 2.
It is located in each of the three positions. That is, the three support portions 3A to 3C respectively support three positions of the mirror 2 which forms an angle of 120 ° (= 360 ° / 3) on a circle having a predetermined radius centered on the center O of the mirror 2. . Therefore, the mirror 2 is elastically supported in a stable and tiltable manner in any direction.

The support portions 3A to 3C are, in the present embodiment,
The leg 9 is arranged so that the thin film slide connecting mechanism is on the outer peripheral side of the mirror 2 with the center O side of the mirror 2 being
You may arrange | position so that the position of the leg part 9 and the position of the said thin film slide connection mechanism may be reverse. Further, the number of the supporting portions is not particularly limited as long as it is one or more.
Further, as in the present embodiment, all of the supporting portions 3A to 3A
In C, it is preferable to mechanically connect the other end of the leaf spring portion 5 and the mirror 2 by the thin film slide connection mechanism, but in any one or two of the support portions 3A to 3C. The other end of the leaf spring portion 5 and the mirror 2 may be fixed without using the thin film slide connection mechanism.

In the present embodiment, three electrodes 4a, 4b, 4c made of an Al film are formed on the substrate 1 below the mirror 2 around the normal line of the surface of the substrate 1 passing through the center O. It is formed in an electrically insulated state. A voltage of any level can be applied to these electrodes 4a to 4c independently of the wiring pattern 8 (that is, the mirror 2 as an electrode) via each wiring pattern (not shown). It is like this. In the present embodiment, the mirror 2 is grounded via the wiring pattern 8 and an arbitrary potential based on the mirror 2 can be independently applied to each of the electrodes 4a to 4c.
An electrostatic force having a magnitude corresponding to the level of the potential applied to each of the electrodes 4a to 4c acts between each of the electrodes 4a to 4c and the electrode facing portion of the mirror 2. Therefore, each electrode 4a-4
The potential level with respect to the mirror 2 applied to c is the drive signal that determines the tilt direction and tilt amount of the mirror 2. A drive circuit that generates this drive signal according to a control signal from the outside may be mounted on the substrate 1.

Thus, in this embodiment, the mirror 2
Are driven by the electrostatic force generated by the drive signal. However, in the present invention, the mirror 2 may be configured to be driven by a magnetic force or a Lorentz force.
In addition, in the present embodiment, the leaf spring portion 5 has at least two layers (specifically, the SiN film 6 and the Al film 7) that are made of different substances having different expansion coefficients and are overlapped with each other. 6 absorbs visible light and infrared light and generates heat. Therefore, when infrared light or visible light is applied to the leaf spring portion 5, the infrared light is transmitted through the substrate 1 (for example, if the substrate 1 is a Si substrate, the infrared light is transmitted through the substrate 1 according to the amount of irradiation. If the substrate 1 is a glass substrate, visible light passes through the substrate 1), and the leaf spring portion 5 bends according to the irradiation amount. Therefore, it is possible to use each of the leaf springs 5 as an actuator for tilting the mirror 2 by using the infrared light or the visible light as a drive signal. These points also apply to the embodiments described later.

Further, in the present embodiment, when the central portion of the mirror 2 is supported by only one supporting portion (the configuration other than the number of supporting portions is not changed), the electrodes 4a to 4c are provided.
If no voltage is applied to the mirror 2, the position of the mirror 2 may become unstable due to rattling of the thin film slide mechanism. To prevent this, a slight voltage (for example, the same constant voltage for each of the electrodes 4a to 4c) is applied to each of the electrodes 4a to 4c to stabilize the position of the mirror 2. The mirror 2 can be tilted in any direction by applying an appropriate voltage to each of the electrodes 4a to 4c with the state set as a steady state.

Although not shown in the drawing, in the mirror device according to the present embodiment, the mirror 2, the supporting mechanism (supporting portions 3A to 3C) and the electrodes 4a to 4c are regarded as one element, and a plurality of such elements are provided. However, the elements are arranged two-dimensionally. However, the elements may be arranged one-dimensionally, or only one element may be provided. These points are
The same applies to the embodiments described later.

Next, an example of the method of manufacturing the mirror device according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5 are schematic cross-sectional views each schematically showing each step of this manufacturing method, and correspond to FIG.

First, as shown in FIG. 4A, electrodes are formed on a substrate 1 such as a Si substrate or a glass substrate (in the case of a Si substrate, the surface thereof is preferably covered with an insulating film). 4a to 4c, the wiring pattern 8 and the Al film 21 to be the other wiring pattern are deposited by a vapor deposition method or the like,
Patterning is performed by the photolithographic etching method to obtain those shapes. Next, a resist 22 serving as a sacrifice layer is applied on the entire surface of the substrate in this state, and an opening 22a corresponding to the contact portion of the leg portion 9 is formed in the resist 22 by photolithography (FIG. 4A). . Although not shown, the surface of the Al film 21 other than the opening 22a may be covered with an insulating film (P-SiN film, P-SiO film, PSG film, or the like). By doing so, the insulation between the electrodes can be improved.

Next, after depositing the SiN film 6 to be one layer of the leaf spring portion 5 and the leg portion 9 by the P-CVD method or the like, patterning is performed by the photolithographic etching method to form the leaf spring portion 5 and the leg portion 9. The shape. At this time, an opening is formed in the contact portion of the leg portion 9. Next, the Al film 7 to be another layer of the leaf spring portion 5 and the leg portion 9 is formed.
Is deposited by a vapor deposition method or the like and then patterned by a photolithographic etching method to form the leaf spring portion 5 and the leg portion 9 (FIG. 4B).

Next, a polyimide film 23 as a sacrificial layer is deposited on the entire surface of the substrate in this state by a spin coating method or the like, and an opening corresponding to the contact portion of the spacer 11 is formed by a photolithographic etching method. Next, after depositing the Al film 16 on the substrate in this state by a vapor deposition method or the like, patterning is performed by a photolithographic etching method to form the spacer 1
The shape is 1. Next, a resist 18 is applied on the substrate in this state, and is removed by photolithography so as to leave only the hole portion formed in the Al film 16, and the height of the resist 18 is further increased by CMP (chemical mechanical polishing). Is matched with the height of the Al film 16. After that, the Al film 17 is deposited on the substrate in this state by a vapor deposition method or the like, and then patterned by a photolithographic etching method to form the spacer 11
(FIG. 4C).

After that, a resist 24 serving as a sacrifice layer is applied on the entire surface of the substrate in this state, and the resist 24 other than the resist 24 is left so as to leave only the resist 24 corresponding to the disk portion 2a of the mirror 2 in an island shape. The portion (including the portion of the opening 24a corresponding to the contact portion of the insertion portion 10) is removed by photolithography. Next, the Al film 2 to be the mirror 2
5 is deposited by a vapor deposition method or the like, and then patterned by a photolithography etching method to form the mirror 2 (FIG. 5).
(A)). At this time, an opening 25c to be the elongated hole 2c of the mirror 2 is formed in the Al film 25. In addition, the Al film 2
The trailing portion 2b of the mirror 2 is formed by overlapping the area left by patterning 5 with the resist 24 and making the area larger than the size of the resist 24.

Next, a resist 26 serving as a sacrifice layer is applied on the entire surface of the substrate in this state, and an opening 26a corresponding to the contact portion of the insertion portion 10 is formed in the resist 26 by photolithography (FIG. 5 ( b)).

After that, the Al film 16 to be the spacer 11,
In the same manner as the resist 18 and the Al film 17 are formed, the Al film 13, the resist 15 and the A, which will become the insertion portion 10, are formed.
1 film 14 is formed (FIG. 5C).

Finally, the substrate in this state is divided into chips by dicing or the like, and all sacrificial layers, that is,
The resists 22, 24, 26 and the polyimide film 23 are removed by an ashing method or the like. As a result, the mirror device shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 is completed.

By the way, as described above, the film 6 and the film 7 are formed by using the resists 22, 24 and 26 and the polyimide film 2.
This is performed under the condition that the leaf spring portion 5 warps upward due to the stress at the time of film formation when 3 is removed. Even when the leaf spring portion 5 is formed of a single-layer thin film, if a film of the same material is formed twice by changing the film forming conditions, a single-layer film is finally obtained, but the leaf spring is not formed. The part 5 can be bent upward.

According to the present embodiment, since the supporting mechanism (supporting portions 3A to 3C) has the above-described structure utilizing the leaf spring portion 5 formed of a thin film, the structure is simplified, As described above, it can be easily manufactured by using the film forming technique in the semiconductor manufacturing process.

Further, according to the present embodiment, the leaf spring portion 5
Since one end of the mirror is connected to the substrate 1 via the leg 9 having the rising portion, the height of the mirror 2 can be gained by the leg 9. Further, since the other end of the leaf spring part 5 is mechanically connected to the mirror 2 via a connecting part (corresponding to the spacer 11 of the thin film slide connecting mechanism) having a rising part rising from the end, The height of the mirror can also be earned by the connection part. Furthermore, since the leaf spring portion 5 is warped upward, the height of the mirror 2 can be increased by this warping. The degree of warpage can be set by the conditions at the time of forming the films 6 and 7 described above.
The height of the mirror 2 can be freely set by the degree of the warp and the length of the leaf spring portion 5. From the above points, even if the mirror 2 is relatively large (for example, a diameter of 1 mm
The height of the mirror 2 can be set to, for example, about 200 μm, and the tiltable angle of the mirror 2 can be made relatively large.

Further, according to the present embodiment, the supporting portion 3A
3 to 3C are arranged at positions hidden by the mirror 2 in a plan view when the substrate 1 is viewed from the side of the mirror 2, it is possible to reduce the area on the substrate occupied by the supporting portions 3A to 3C and the mirror. The degree of integration of the two-dimensionally arranged elements can be increased, and the size of the mirror device can be reduced.

Further, according to the present embodiment, since the other end of the leaf spring portion 5 is constituted by the thin film slide connection mechanism, the stress (mirror 2) which tends to occur due to tilting of the mirror 2 or the like. And stress applied to the leaf spring part 5)
However, this thin film slide connection mechanism can reduce the mechanical strength, and the tilting operation of the mirror 2 can be smoothed.

[Second Embodiment]

FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view schematically showing a unit element of a mirror device according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and corresponds to FIG. In FIG. 6, elements that are the same as or correspond to the elements in FIGS. 1 to 3 are assigned the same reference numerals, and duplicate descriptions thereof are omitted.

The present embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that the supporting portion 3A in FIG. 1 is the supporting portion 3 shown in FIG.
3A and the supporting portions 3B and 3C in FIG.
It is only replaced with a support portion (not shown) having the same structure as the support portion 33A shown in FIG.

While the supporting portion 3A shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 has only one leaf spring portion 5, the supporting portion 33A shown in FIG. 6 has two leaf springs mechanically connected to each other in series. It has leaf spring portions 34 and 35. Each of the leaf spring portions 34 and 35 is formed in a linear shape in a plan view as seen from the direction normal to the surface of the substrate 1.

One end portion of the plate spring portion 34, which corresponds to one end portion of the mechanical connection route formed by the two leaf spring portions 34 and 35, rises from the substrate 1 via the wiring pattern 8 formed on the substrate 1. Via the leg 9 with the rising part,
It is mechanically connected to the substrate 1. Two leaf spring parts 3
One end portion of the leaf spring portion 35 corresponding to the other end portion of the mechanical connection route formed by 4, 35 is attached to the mirror 2 by the same thin film slide connection mechanism as the thin film slide connection mechanism in the first embodiment. Connected to each other. In the present embodiment, the other end portion of the leaf spring portion 35 is connected to the other end portion of the leaf spring portion 34 so that the leaf spring portion 35 extends the length direction of the leaf spring portion 34 in a straight line to add the leaf spring portion 35. It is mechanically connected.
The mechanical connection between the end portions of the leaf spring portions 34 and 35 is
By mechanically connecting the end portion of the leaf spring portion 34 on the substrate 1 side to the end portion of the leaf spring portion 35 on the mirror 2 side via a connection portion 36 having a rising portion rising from this end portion,
Has been done.

Like the leaf spring portion 5 in FIG. 2, the leaf spring portion 34 is composed of a two-layer thin film in which a lower SiN film 6 and an upper Al film 7 are laminated. The legs 9 are the leaf springs 3
The SiN film 6 and the Al film 7 which form 4 are extended as they are.

On the other hand, the leaf spring portion 35 is a two-layer thin film in which the upper and lower layers of the leaf spring portion 34 are turned upside down and a lower Al film 37 and an upper SiN film 38 are laminated. It is configured. The connecting portion 36 is the Al film 3 that constitutes the leaf spring portion 35.
7 and the SiN film 38 extend as they are. The spacer 11 is electrically connected to the Al film 37 through an opening formed in the film 38. Although it is shown as if they are not in contact with each other in FIG.
Since either of the films 13 and 17 inevitably comes into contact with the mirror 2, the mirror 2 is electrically connected to the Al film 37 that forms the leaf spring portion 33A, and thus the wiring pattern 8 is connected via the Al film 7. It is electrically connected.

As shown in FIG. 6, the leaf spring portion 34 is at least in a state where the drive signal is not supplied,
It is warped upward (on the side opposite to the substrate 1). In addition, in FIG.
The state where the drive signal is not supplied is shown. on the other hand,
The leaf spring portion 35 is warped downward (on the side of the substrate 1), contrary to the leaf spring portion 34, at least in a state where the drive signal is not supplied. In the present embodiment, the leaf spring portion 3
The warps and lengths of the blades 4 and 35 are the same, so that the one end of the leaf spring part 35 mechanically connected to the mirror 2 through the thin film slide connection mechanism is
It is substantially parallel to the surface of the substrate 1. However, it is possible to make the one end portion of the plate spring portion 35 substantially parallel to the surface of the substrate 1 by other settings.

The mirror device according to the present embodiment can also be manufactured by using semiconductor manufacturing techniques such as film formation and patterning, sacrifice layer formation and removal, as in the first embodiment. .

According to this embodiment, basically, the same advantages as those of the first embodiment can be obtained. Further, according to the present embodiment, since the end portion of the plate spring portion 35 connected to the mirror 2 via the thin film slide connection mechanism is substantially parallel to the surface of the substrate 1, the mirror 2 and the plate are The relative sliding with the end of the spring portion 35 is performed more smoothly. Therefore, the stress applied to the mirror 2, the leaf spring portion 35, and the like is further alleviated, the mechanical strength can be further increased, and the tilting operation of the mirror 2 becomes smoother.

When replacing the supporting portion 3A shown in FIG. 1 with the supporting portion 33A shown in FIG. 6, the positions of the legs 9 and the thin film slide connecting mechanism are reversed, and similarly, the supporting portion 3B shown in FIG. , 3C are replaced with a support part having the same structure as the support part 33A shown in FIG. 6, the positions of the leg part 9 and the thin film slide connection mechanism may be reversed.

[Third Embodiment]

FIG. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an optical switch according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

The optical switch according to the present embodiment is the mirror device 20 according to the first or second embodiment described above.
The light emitted from the plurality of two-dimensionally arranged optical input optical fibers 201 including 0 is output to the plurality of optical output optical fibers 2
02.

The light emitted from the plurality of optical fibers for light input 201 is reflected by the mirror 2 of each element of the mirror device 200.
Are respectively incident on. For the incidence, an optical system such as a lens may be arranged between the plurality of optical fibers 201 for light input and the mirror device 200 as necessary.

The mirror device 200 has a drive signal (potential difference in this embodiment) between the mirror 2 as an electrode of each element and the electrodes 4a, 4b, 4c in response to a control signal for instructing the optical path switching state. Is given, and the mirror tilts with respect to the base body in a direction and a tilt amount according to the drive signal. As a result, the traveling direction of the light reflected by the mirror 2 is deflected, and is incident on the optical output optical fiber 202 at the corresponding position. In FIG. 7, P1 is the input light incident on the mirror 2 of the element from a certain optical input optical fiber 201, and P2 is the output light incident on the optical output optical fiber 202 reflected by the mirror 2. It's

According to the present embodiment, the mirror device 20 according to either the first or second embodiment described above.
Since 0 is used, it is possible to switch to many output optical paths with the same number of mirrors 2 as the input optical paths.
With 00 mirrors 2, 1000 input optical paths can be switched to 1000 output optical paths. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the number of mirrors 2 can be small, so that the size and mass productivity are significantly improved as compared with the mechanical optical switch using the conventional MEMS technology described above.
Of course, since the optical path is switched using the mirror 2, the optical characteristics such as insertion loss and crosstalk are superior to those of the electronic optical switch.

Although the respective embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments.

For example, in each of the above-described embodiments, when the support mechanism has a plurality of support parts, these support parts all have the same structure, but each support part does not necessarily have the same structure. You don't have to be.

The application of the thin film slide connection mechanism according to the present invention is not limited to the mirror device.
Furthermore, the application of the mirror device according to the present invention is not limited to optical switches.

[0070]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to provide an optical switch that can further improve the miniaturization and mass productivity while maintaining excellent optical characteristics by switching the optical path using a mirror.

Further, the present invention can provide a mirror device suitable for such an optical switch and the like, a thin film slide connecting mechanism, and a manufacturing method thereof.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view schematically showing a unit element of a mirror device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view taken along line OA in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along line OD in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view schematically showing each step of the method for manufacturing a mirror device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic cross sectional view schematically showing each of the other steps of the method for manufacturing the mirror device according to the first embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic plan view schematically showing a unit element of a mirror device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an optical switch according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 substrate 2 mirror 2c oblong hole 3A, 3B, 3C support 4A, 4B, 4C electrodes 5 Leaf spring 9 legs 10 insertion part 200 mirror device 201 Optical fiber for optical input 202 Optical fiber for optical output

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A substrate, a mirror composed of one or more thin films, and a support mechanism for elastically supporting the mirror so as to be tilted in an arbitrary direction with respect to the substrate while floating from the substrate. A mirror device in which the mirror is tilted with respect to the base body in a direction and a tilt amount according to a drive signal supplied, wherein the support mechanism mechanically connects the base body and the mirror. At least one support part, wherein each support part has at least one leaf spring part formed of one or more thin films, and at least one support part among the one or more support parts. In, the one end of the leaf spring part corresponding to the one end of the mechanical connection route formed by the one or more leaf springs mechanically connects the one end and the mirror relatively slidably. The thin film slide connection mechanism allows the The thin film slide mechanism has a slot formed in one of the mirror and the leaf spring portion corresponding to the one end of the connection route, and a play in the slot. Of the leaf spring portion corresponding to the one end portion of the mirror and the connection route is inserted, the insertion portion is fixed to the other, and the removal of the insertion portion from the elongated hole. A mirror device characterized in that it is configured to be prevented. 2. The number of the one or more supporting parts is N, where N is an integer of 3 or more, and the N supporting parts are 360 in a circle having a predetermined radius centered on the center of the mirror.
In the vicinity of N places of the mirror forming an angle of ° / N,
The mirror device according to claim 1, wherein each of the thin film slide connection mechanisms slidably supports the thin film slide connection mechanism in the substantially radial direction. 3. An optical switch that causes light emitted from one or more light input sections to enter one of a plurality of light output sections, comprising the mirror device according to claim 1 or 2. The optical switch, wherein the light emitted from the light input section is reflected by the mirror of the mirror device and then enters any of the plurality of light output sections. 4. A thin film slide connection mechanism for mechanically relatively slidably connecting a first member and a second member, which are composed of one or more thin films and have a flat plate-like portion,
An elongated hole is formed in the flat plate-shaped portion, and the insertion portion inserted with play in the elongated hole is fixed to the second member, so that the insertion portion is prevented from coming off from the elongated hole. A thin film slide connection mechanism characterized by being configured as described above. 5. The manufacturing method for manufacturing the thin film slide connection mechanism according to claim 4, wherein a step of forming a sacrificial layer interposed between the first and second members and a step of removing the sacrificial layer. And a method of manufacturing a thin film slide mechanism.