Digital Micromirror Device

Chunhai Ji

I. INTRODUCTION The applications of large screen, high brightness electronic projection displays include (1) electronic presentations, (2) entertainment, (3) status and information and (4) simulation (e.g., training, and games). So far the electronic presentation market is being driven by the pervasiveness of software that has put sophisticated presentation techniques into the hands of the average PC user. Normally three of projection display techniques are used widely, i.e. oil film, CRT-LCD, and AM-LCD. Oil film projectors is developed in early 1940s and have been the workhorse for applications that require projection displays of the highest brightness. But the oil film projector has a number of limitations including size, weight, power, setup time, stability, and maintenance. In response to these limitations, LCD-based technologies have challenged the oil film projector. These LCD-based projectors are of two general types: (1) CRT-addressed LCD light valves and (2) active-matrix (AM) LCD panels. LCD-based projectors have not provided the perfect solution for the entire range of highbrightness applications. CRT-addressed LCD light valves have setup time and stability limitations. Most active-matrix LCDs used for high-brightness applications are transmissive and, because of this, heat generated by light absorption cannot be dissipated with a heatsink attached to the substrate. This limitation is mitigated by the use of large-area LCD panels with forced-air cooling. However, it may still be difficult to implement effective cooling at the highest brightness levels. In response to these and other limitations, as well as to provide superior image quality under the most demanding environmental conditions, high brightness projection display systems have been developed based on Digital Light Processing (DLP) technology. DLP is based on a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) device known as the Digital Micromirror Device. "Digital Micromirror Device", or "DMD". Is developed by Larry J. Hornbeck of Texas

Instruments Inc. This device combines aluminum alloy mirrors, silicon based electrostatic drives, and silicon microelectronics to create a "light switch". Because the entire device is micro machined on a single silicon chip, each mirror is so small that "dozens of them are covered by the tip of a standard straight pin". It is expected that these mirror devices will play a major role in the next generation of video displays and hard copy printers. An example of the device is shown below in Figure 1. This is a 1280 x 1042 Digital Micromirror Device. The central, reflective portion of the device consists of 1,310,720 tiny, tiltable mirrors. A glass window seals and protects the mirrors. Each mirror is 16 um on a side.

Figure 1. SXGA DMD device with black aperture. II. DMD CELL (MIRROR) STRUCTURE The DMD pixel is an integrated MEMS structure which is fabricated on a CMOS SRAM cell. Refer to the Figure 2, the mirror (aluminia) is rigidly connected to an underlying yoke. The yoke is connected by two thin, mechanically compliant torsion hinges (also aluminia) which are supported by the posts that are attached to the underlying substrate. Electrostatic fields are developed between the underlying memory cell and the yoke and mirror, creating an electrostatic torque. This torque works against the restoring torque of the hinges to produce mirror rotation in the positive or negative direction. The mirror and yoke rotate

until the yoke comes to rest against mechanical stops that are at the same potential as the yoke. Because geometry determines the rotation angle, as opposed to a balance of electrostatic torque as in other micromirror devices, the rotation angle is precisely determined.

Figure 3. SEM pictures of DMD mirrors.[2] III. OPERATION OF SINGLE MIRROR As described in the previous section, the mirror is connected to the yoke that can rotate on the two torsion hinges. Under the yoke itself are the yoke address electrodes. The yoke is attracted to one or the other of the yoke address electrodes depending upon which is energized. Which of the electrodes is energized depends, in turn, upon the status of the memory cell directly beneath it. A "one" stored in the cell causes the mirror to move to a +10 degree position (at which point it contacts the yoke and becomes mechanically connected via the landing site contacts). When the memory cell contains a zero, the mirror moves to a -10 degree position. When the memory cell is neither, no electrostatic force is applied to the mirror and the torsion hinges cause the mirror to return to 0 degrees. When a mirror is fully tilted in either direction, and has made contact with the yoke base, a bias current keeps the mirror in place irrespective of changes in the address electrode. This enables the mirror to remain in the correct position even while a new bit of data is being loaded into the cell memory. Figure 4 shows the working principle of DMD reflective mirrors for display.

Figure 2. Schematic of DMD two pixels superstructure.[1] The address electrodes for the mirror and yoke are connected to the complementary sides of the underlying SRAM cell. The yoke and mirror are connected to a bias bus fabricated at the Metal-3 layer. The bias bus interconnects the yoke and mirrors of each pixel to a bond pad at the chip perimeter. An off-chip driver supplies the bias waveform necessary for proper digital operation. The DMD mirrors are 16 m square and made of aluminum for maximum reflectivity. The interval between two mirrors is only 1 um, so the mirrors are arrayed to forma a matrix having a high fill factor (approximately 90%) for maximum use of light.

the red, green, and blue video signal being sent to the DMD. Mirrors are turned on, depending on where and how much of each color is needed for each TV field. The human visual system integrates the sequential color and sees a full-color image. Details of the video display operations follow:

The color wheel rotates at 60 rotations per second. This means that there are 180 color changes per second as a result of the turning wheel. This means that each color passes through the light source for approximately 5.56 ms for each revolution of the wheel. Thus, if the color for a particular pixel is to be switched on, the mirror must be capable of moving to its correct position in less than 5.56 ms. In reality, the mirror can be move from one maximum deflection to the other in a period of less than 20 microseconds. This means that for any given color, the mirror for any pixel can move a total of 5.56 ms / 20 us = 278 times while the color is moving past the light source. Or to put it another way, the length of time that a mirror can be turned towards the projection lens can vary from 1 part in 278 to 278 parts in 278. Rather than use 278, one byte of 8 bits is used to control the mirror movement. 8 bits yields 256 possible timings for the mirror.

Figure 4. Display schematic of DMD pixels.[3] IV. OPERATION PRINCIPLE AS A VEDIO DEVICE The DLP chip can be utilized in three different ways to project an image, one-chip, two-chip and three-chip. Of the three methods, the simplest implementation uses a single DLP chip. The mechanical construction and layout of the projection device is shown below in Figure 5. A white light source is projected first through a rotating color wheel, through a focusing lens, and then onto the DLP chip. Light from the chip, when the mirrors are correctly positioned, is reflected to the projection lens, and from there to the display panel.

The cycle for one frame of display proceeds as follows:

The video signal is received by the chip and is separated into its red, green, and blue components. For each color component (let's work with red), its intensity is translated to a value between 0 and 255 and stored in the mirror control byte. Using the reset/latch bias currents, all mirrors in the array are returned to their neutral position. Then the most significant bit is sent to the mirror memory cell and the latch current is turned on. If the bit was a 'one' the mirror deflects towards the projection lens and is

Figure 5. DLP projective display principle.[2] A one-chip DLP projection system. White light is focused down onto a color wheel filter system that spins at 60 Hz. This wheel spins in sequence with

latched; if 'zero' the mirror deflects to - 10 degrees and no light is sent to the lens.

While the mirrors are latched in place, the next bit in the intensity byte is sent to each mirror's memory cell. Once in the cell, the reset/latch bias currents return the mirror to the neutral position and then either to + 10 degrees or - 10 degrees, depending once again upon the contents of the memory cell. This process continues until all the bits in the intensity byte have been transmitted to the memory cell and the mirror moved in response. It should be noted that the total time that a mirror is "on" depends on which bit is being processed; the most significant bit stays "on" the longest while the least significant bit is the shortest. Thus, to process a single frame of video each mirror will move 8 times; for maximum intensity, all 8 times will result in a positive deflection, while minimum intensity results in 8 negative deflections. Intermediate intensities require that the mirror move in both directions at a ration equal to the desired intensity. The net effect is that for each pixel, anywhere from 0 to 255 flashes of a specific color will be reflected to the projection lens. Because the cycle time is so much faster than the integration time of the human brain and eye, the multiple flashes are perceived as intensity.

V. ELECTRONIC WORKING PROCEDURE Proper operation of DMD is achieved by using the bias and address sequence shown in Figure 6 and detailed as follows: 1. Memory readyAll memory cells under the DMD have been loaded with the new address states for the mirrors. 2. ResetAll mirrors are reset in parallel (voltage pulse applied to bias bus). 3. UnlatchThe bias is turned off to unlatch mirrors and allow them to release and begin to rotate to flat state. 4. DifferentiateRetarding fields are applied to the yoke and mirrors in order to rotationally separate the mirrors that remain in the same state from those that are to cross over to a new state. 5. Land and latchThe bias is turned on to capture the rotationally separated mirrors and enable them to rotate to the addressed states, then settle and latch. 6. Update memory array (one line at a time)The bias remains turned on to keep the mirrors latched so as to prevent them from responding to changes in the memory, while the memory is written with new video data. 7. Repeat sequence beginning at step 1.

It should be noted that with the single mirror chip system, only one third of the total light intensity is actually transmitted to the projection lens since the other two primary colors are always filtered out. This problem is readily overcome by the use of three DLP chips that are run together synchronously. The light from the white source is prismatically split into the three primary colors and forwarded to each DLP chip. A further advantage of this method is the ability to use even higher color resolution than that available with a single chip. Since any given mirror needs deal with only one color during a given cycle, the total amount of time, and hence the total number of times the mirror may switch is increased by a factor of three.

Figure 6. Electronic operation of DMD.[4] VI. FABRICATION OF DMD A detailed account of the wafer fabrication portion of the flow is shown in Figure 7. The superstructure process begins with a completed SRAM address circuit employing 0.8 m, doublelevel metal CMOS technology. A thick oxide is deposited over Metal-2 of the CMOS and then planarized using a chemical mechanical polish

(CMP) technique. The CMP step provides a completely flat substrate for DMD superstructure fabrication, ensuring that the projector's brightness uniformity and contrast ratio are not degraded.

continues etching into the hinge layer to define the hinge geometry. In this manner, a single plasma etch defines both the thin hinges and the much thicker yoke structures. A significant advantage to this one-step etch process is the architectural benefit of having the hinge metal continuous everywhere under the yoke metallization layer. A second organic sacrificial layer (Spacer-2) is spin-coated, lithographically patterned, and hardened. The holes or spacervias that are patterned in this spacer form the support posts that secure the mirrors to the underlying yokes. Finally, an aluminum layer is sputter-deposited over Spacer-2 to form the mirrors. It also is patterned with an oxide etch mask in the same manner as the yoke layer. This completes the superstructure process with the exception of removing the sacrificial layers to form the air gaps. VII. RELIABILITY OF DMD IN MEMS ISSUE The reliability problems of DMD include pixels malfunction, mirror breaking as a result of handling (vibration/shock), and device lifetime limitations caused by high operating temperature, device lifetime limitation due to intense light exposure. Because here we are talking about the MEMS device, so the emphasis here will only put on the problems regarding the MEMS device. In the quality problems of DMD, dead pixel is the most vex problem. Pixel malfunction includes stiction, hinge failure and hinge memory. Here we will discuss the details about them. A. Stiction Stiction failure is caused by an excessive adhesive force between the landing tip and its landing site. If the stiction level is sufficiently high, the electronic reset sequence will not overcome the stiction force and the pixel will fail to switch. Adhesive forces are produced by capillary condensation of volatizes such as water and by short range forces between surface molecules called van der Waals forces.

Figure 7. Microfabrication of DMD superstructure. [5] The superstructure process begins with deposition and patterning of aluminum for the Metal-3 layer. An organic sacrificial layer (Spacer-1) is then spincoated, lithographically patterned, and hardened. The holes or spacervias that are patterned in the spacer form metal support posts after the yoke metal covers their sidewalls. These support posts support the hinges and the electrically independent mirror address electrodes. Next, a thin metal layer (typically 600 Angstroms) is sputter-deposited for the hinges. This metal layer is not patterned at this step, but rather is covered with a plasma-deposited layer of SiO2. This oxide layer is patterned in the shape of the hinges and used as an etch mask for the hinges later in the process. A thicker layer of aluminum is sputter-deposited for the yoke layer, covering the hinge metal and the hinge oxide masks. A second layer of plasma SiO2 is then deposited over the yoke metal to act as a mask. This layer is patterned in the shape of the yoke structures, with an opening over the hinges. A plasma etch patterns both the yoke and hinge metallization layers. As the yoke metal is etched away from over the hinges, the plasma etch stops on the hinge oxide mask. The plasma

To solve this problem several methods are used. First, depositing a thin, self-limiting, anti-stick layer to the surface energy of the contacting parts in order to decrease van der Waals forces. Second, a miniature spring, as shown in Figure 8, to the mirror landing tips is added in redesigned products. This spring is actually a aluminia whisker. Last, hermetic packaging to keep the water vapor levels low and to prevent capillary condensation.

Bipolar reset uses a positive bias voltage to land the mirrors and a negative rest voltage to resonate the mirrors. C. Hinge fatigue or broken Because each micromirror is hinged, allowing it to rotate on its diagonal axis, so given that each mirror will be switched through twenty degrees thousands of times per second, it seems to many people that it must, sooner or later, break. In fact, hinge fatigue has never been a problem for the DMD. The mirror hinge is manufactured using thin-film technology. Thin films have distinctly different properties from the general macroscopic concept of bending metal. A thin-film material is said to be more compliant; in other words, it has less stiffness. Stiffness is the property of a material that causes the material to resist bending. The more the material resists, the greater the likelihood of its breaking. From the viewpoint of materials science, with extremely thin films such as the DMD hinge, the material is only one grain thick, thus providing two free surfaces to restrain any dislocations. Because of this, the thin film material does not accumulate a high enough density of dislocations to form fatigue cracks. D. Failure from tiny particles of dust The most significant potential problem in fabricating a DMD is the existence of particles in the manufacturing environment. In the Figures 9, it shows how the particles cause the malfunction of DMD device. So the DMD packing process is carried out in the class 10 clean room environment.

Figure 8. Spring whisker. [6] B. Hinge memory Hinge memory occurs as a mirror is operated in the same direction for a long period of time. For example, a mirror continually landed on the offside, will exhibit a small amount of residual tilt when all voltages are removed. The reasons cause the factors that contribute to hinge memory consist of operating temperature and mirror duty cycle, which is the percentage of time the mirrors are addressed to on side in relation to the other. The root cause of hinge memory is metal creep of the hinge material that works at raised temperature. The solutions for hinge memory are: 1. Select an improved hinge material that did not exhibit the same degree of metal creep 2. Using Stepped VDD and a bipolar reset. Stepped VDD provides a higher voltage to the address electrode while the mirror is in transition to the proper side.

C. Seamless picture advantage The square mirrors on DMD are 16 x 16 um2, separated by 1um gap, giving a fill factor of up to 90%. So DMD fill factor gives higher perceived resolution that yield much more natural and lifelike image. By contrast, LCD has, at best, a 70%fill factor. The Figure following shows the difference of picture displayed by DMD and LCD under the same condition. Figure 9. Foreign particles cause failure of DMD. [3] VIII. DISPLAY PERFORMANCE AND ADVANTAGES Here summarize the display performance of DMD display technology: D. Scale advantage Due to the high integration of DMD systems, the DLP projector can be produced to much lighter and smaller. So far, the first microprotable projector lighter than 3lb has been developed by Plus Corporation based on DMD SVGA and XGA technology. IX. SUMMARIES DMD is a MEMs device fully IC compatible from product design to manufacturing. DMD is also a successful MOEMs device making use of optical reflection for image display. Viewing from the angle of actuation, DMD use electrostatic actuation that proves can provide high speed for mirror motion. But DMD still has some unique design over traditional electrostatic address method landing tip. Further, DMD smartly use the electrostatic force for solving the problems of hinge memory. Viewing from the angle of fabrication, DMD also has some distinguishing featuring: using photoresist as sacrificial layer instead of traditional phosphosilicate glass (PSG) make processing more simple and less cost. Reference:

Resolution: highest resolution so far is 1280 x 1024 optical efficiency: 61% Maximum brightness: 10,000 lumens Contrast ratio: 177 :1

By comparing with current market available display products, the advantages of DMD display range widely from digitization to display quality. A. Digital Advantage Because the DMD display uses the digital signal, so it will save the time and cost of analog/digital conversion and also lower noise. And at the same time accurate reproduction of gray scale and color levels, totally 16.7 million different color combinations. By contrast, other primer display technologies are still using analog signal, like LCD and CRT. B. Reflective advantage DMD is reflective device, so the light efficiency greater than 60% can be achieved. By contrast, LCDs are polarization-dependent device, so 50% of the lamp light never even gets to the LCD because it is filtered out by polarizer. If consider, light absorb by TFT transistor, gate and liquid crystal material itself the light efficiency will be much low than DMD.