JPH0219785Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention relates to an optical deflection element that is effective for use in electromagnetic oscillographs and the like.

Figure 1 was originally filed in Japanese Patent Application No. 55-44383 by the inventors of the present application.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an example of the structure of an optical deflection element of this type proposed in the above issue.

This optical deflection element supports a movable part 2 on a frame 1 via thin spring parts 31 and 32, and also includes a reflecting mirror 4 and a coil pattern 5 on the movable part 2.
It was formed by Frame 1, movable part 2
And the spring parts 31 and 32 have a thickness of, for example, 5×
It consists of a single crystal substrate with a thickness of about 10 ^-5 m, and the shapes, reflecting mirrors, and coil patterns are created using photolithography and etching techniques.

The optical deflection element configured in this manner is constructed by placing the coil pattern 5 in a magnetic field in the direction of the arrow shown in the figure (a magnetic field in the same direction as the planar direction of the substrate), and by passing a current through the coil pattern, the movable part 2 The light beam incident on the reflecting mirror 4 can be deflected by deflecting the spring parts 31 and 32 about the axes.

Incidentally, the optical deflection element having such a configuration has the advantage of being able to produce a large number of high-performance and uniform quality elements at once, but on the other hand, since the reflecting mirror 4 is supported at its upper and lower ends, it cannot be moved. When the portion 2 rotates, torque acts on the reflector 4, and the spring portion 31
There was a problem in that the reflecting mirror 4 was twisted as shown in FIG. 2 in accordance with the torsional rigidity ratio of the reflecting mirror 4. When the reflector 4 is twisted as shown in Fig. 2,
The beam from the reflector spreads out laterally, making it impossible to narrow down the spot.

The present invention has been made with the aim of solving such problems caused by the twisting of the reflecting mirror when the movable part rotates.

The optical deflection element according to the present invention includes a spring part, a movable part whose upper and lower ends are supported by fixed ends via the spring part, and the spring part by using photolithography and etching techniques on one insulating substrate. a coil pattern is provided on the movable part, and the length of the part of the reflecting mirror connected to the spring part is shorter than the maximum length of the reflecting mirror in a direction parallel to the spring part. It is characterized by having a shape that looks like this.

The present invention will be explained below based on the drawings.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the optical deflection element according to the present invention. This optical deflection element has a fixed end 1
(Frame, etc.) with a thinner spring part 3 that connects the movable part 2
1 and 32, a coil pattern is formed on the movable part 2, and an H-shaped reflecting mirror 4 is provided connected to the spring part 31.

According to the optical deflection element configured in this way, even when the movable part 2 rotates, torque is applied to the reflecting mirror 4 at the width part where the reflecting mirror 4 connects to the spring part 31. The resulting twisting of the mirror occurs only in a small area (the band-shaped area between the two dotted lines in the figure). As a result, it was confirmed that the spread of the reflected light beam was small and that the reflected light from the reflecting mirror was narrowed down to a sufficiently small spot by the lens.

In the above embodiment, an H-shaped reflector is used, but the length l of the part where the reflector connects with the spring part is the maximum length L of the reflector in the direction parallel to the spring part. The same applies to all shapes shorter than (l<L).

Note that the optical deflection element shown in Figure 3 can be formed from a single insulating substrate in the same process using photolithography and etching techniques, so the process is more complicated than in the case of Figure 1. That's not going to happen. Furthermore, since the movable part has a structure in which the upper and lower ends are supported, it is stronger against external vibrations in the lateral direction and has excellent stability compared to a cantilever type movable part.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to realize an optical deflection element with a simple configuration in which the reflecting mirror is less twisted when the movable part rotates.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the configuration of an example of the optical deflection element previously proposed by the inventors of the present application, and FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration in an operating state to explain the problems thereof.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of the optical deflection element according to the present invention in an operating state. 2...Movable part, 31, 32...Spring part, 4...
Reflector, 5...Coil pattern.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A spring part, a movable part whose upper and lower ends are supported by fixed ends via the spring part, and a reflecting mirror connected to the spring part are formed on one insulating substrate using photolithography and etching techniques. With,
The movable part is provided with a coil pattern, and the reflecting mirror is shaped such that the length of the portion connected to the spring part is shorter than the maximum length of the reflecting mirror in a direction parallel to the spring part. A light deflection element.