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Microvision, Inc. (SSD) (Bothell, WA) (www.microvision.com)
announced it has achieved a significant breakthrough that is expected
to enable the development of micro-miniature displays and imaging
systems that are much more compact and affordable than those the
company is currently producing. According to the company, the
new design should improve not only size and cost, but is expected
to also increase reliability and reduce the power required to
operate the silicon micromirror that is the centerpiece of Microvision's
scanned beam systems.
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The core technology of these engines is a MEMS scanner
that directs a beam of light. The MEMS scanner is a small,
electro-mechanical biaxial mirror that can be manufactured
on silicon wafers using batch fabrication techniques similar
to integrated circuits.
In the present configuration now being manufactured, the
scanning mirror itself is less than 2.5 square millimeters
in area and is pivoted in the horizontal and vertical directions
using the fast and slow flexures as hinges. The movement
of the mirror, controlled by the drive electronics, rasters
the single beam of pixels across an image to be displayed,
then photo sensors detect the scanned image for presentation
to the applications optics.
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This current display makes use of a micromechanical
"single-pixel"chip that is packaged in a vacuum-sealed
enclosure in order to maximize its performance.
The new design eliminates the vacuum, without impacting performance,
and simplifies the electrical drive structure of the scanning
engine to enable solutions that consume less power and are smaller,
lighter and lower in cost. Eliminating the vacuum package also
improves the optical performance of the scanner. The current design
enables displays with up to 1.4 million color pixels, but the
new drive structure may also enable further improvements in display
resolution.
The company is not yet revealing details about the
new device structure, but we have learned it uses a "magnetic
drive" instead of the electrostatic mirror deflection methods
used in current devices. The new drive can be used for conventional
raster type scanning as well as Lissajous (figure 8) scanning
patterns.
In addition, the elimination of the hermetic package
should be a big boost to cost reduction. Packaging for DLP chips
is an expensive proposition, so this could be a real benefit.
This breakthrough should enable Microvision to develop
a scanning engine that can support a wide range of high-volume
consumer products, including electronic viewfinders for digital
cameras and camcorders. Ultimately, integrating high-resolution
electronic displays into something like conventional eyeglasses
could be effective in a variety of applications including computer
gaming, portable movie players and mobile devices, such as cell
phones and PDAs.
Microvision, Matt Nichols, 425-415-6657, Matt_Nichols@microvision.com
Contact:
Insight Media
Annmarie Gabisch, 203-831-8464
annmarie@insightmedia.info
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