Design and Electronic Interfacing of FR4 and Polyimide PCB-based Electromagnetic Resonating Micro-mirrors

This paper presents the design and fabrication of an electromagnetically actuated PCB-based resonating scanning micro-mirror for LiDAR applications, with optimization targeted towards low-cost fabrication and a high scanning angle. Traditional silicon MEMS-based micro-mirrors, while offering high precision and compatibility with CMOS processing, are limited by fragility at low scanning frequencies and costly fabrication processes. To overcome these challenges, novel alternative polymer-based substrates, namely FR4 and polyimide (PI), were employed to implement PCB-compatible mirror prototypes. Electromagnetic actuation was chosen because it achieves a high scanning angle at low driving voltages and is therefore compatible with modern electronic drive circuitry. The resonant frequency and von Mises stresses were assessed via COMSOL finite element simulations. Various scanning mirror prototypes, each featuring an optical mirror aperture of 10 mm by 10 mm, were fabricated using two different materials: 0.3 mm-thick FR4 and polyimide substrates. Different electromagnetic coil structures, embedded on the mirror plate, were evaluated with the aim of optimizing the scanning performance. The magnetic field was generated using neodymium permanent magnets. The performance attained by each prototype is compared and discussed. The scanning mirrors were designed to have a low resonant frequency in the range of 250 Hz to 550 Hz. The maximum optical scanning angle achieved for the FR4 and polyimide substrates are 31.3° and 52.1°, respectively. The paper also delves into the design of a microcontroller-based electromagnetic actuation and sensing circuitry of the mirror. Custom electronic circuitry comprising a low-power STM32L432KC microcontroller, H-bridge motor drivers for mirror actuation, and INA241-based coil voltage and current sensing was designed for this purpose. The coil voltage and current sensing circuitry enable the eventual real-time sensor less angular position feedback of the micro-mirror.