| Micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) based display technologies are attracting a lot of attention because of their potentially low power consumption, higher contrast ratio and cost effectiveness. This dissertation introduces new experimental reflective and transmissive micro-optical switches that can implement a MEMS display system.; The reflective scanning mirror designs involve two strategies, an electrostatic/thermal dual-actuation configuration and a floating slider mechanism. They can achieve large scan angle and low drive voltage. However, using a single scanning micromirror in a large projection area may have brightness limitations because of reflective optical loss and heat dissipation problems. Thus, this dissertation is focused on the development of a transmissive display technology.; In particular, transmissive technology is expected to have a better dynamic range between dark and bright pixels, namely, high contrast performance. The dissertation presents the invention and studies of the highly space efficient zigzag electrostatic acutator. The actuator drives the opaque shutters. The shutters cover the optical channel, in order to modulate an incident light beam. Experimental data confirm the effectiveness of our analytic approximate solution and finite element simulation. They demonstrate the advantages of zigzag electrostatic actuators for transmissive optical switching. The zigzag actuator design increases the electrostatic force and extends the stable actuator travel range for image generation. It also provides both digital and analog optical switching capabilities.; In addition, this dissertation presents a series of novel fabrication processes for microlens arrays. It includes a time-multiplexed plasma etching process to produce high space-coverage paraboloid-shaped surfaces for microlens array molding. Finally, this dissertation discusses the major challenges in system integration and packaging of transmissive displays. |
