Platinum microheater integrated silicon optical bench assembly for endoscopic optical coherence tomography

Abstract

A novel platinum microheater and comb isolator integrated silicon optical bench (SiOB) assembly method has been successfully demonstrated to provide electrical connection and high precision alignment for a two-axis gimbal-less micromirror. Localized heating and wetting of plastic core micro solder balls is achieved by the integrated platinum heater, and the maximum measured temperature of the platinum heater is about 250 °C. In addition, assembly procedures are significantly simplified by involving a comb isolator made by deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) in comparison with our previously reported design. DRIE is also applied to form a 45° trench on the lower silicon substrate with a nearly vertical sidewall for the micromirror. Hence, the overall dimensions of the SiOB assembly can be reduced further to meet the requirements of endoscopic optical coherence tomography (EOCT) for miniaturization. © 2010 IOP Publishing Ltd.