PROCEEDINGS OF THE 31st ICRC, ŁÓDŹ 2009 1

A New LIDAR Method using MEMS Micromirror Array for the

JEM-EUSO mission
I. H. Park∗, J. A. Jeon∗, J. Nam∗ , S. Nam∗ , J. Lee∗ , J. H. Park∗, J. Yang∗ ,
T. Ebisuzaki†, Y. Kawasaki†, Y. Takizawa†, S. Wada† ,
for the JEM-EUSO Collaboration
∗ Department of Physics, Ewha Womans University, Seoul 120-750, Republic of Korea
† RIKEN, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan

Abstract. LIDAR (LIght Detection And Ranging) Installed together with the infrared camera in the
is an important method in measuring atmospheric JEM-EUSO telescope the LIDAR system provides a tool
transparency that is used to correct fluorescence light for calibration of the JEM-EUSO detection efficiency,
yield from extensive air showers. For the JEM-EUSO using the molecular backscatter signal from the laser
(Extreme Universe Space Observatory on Japanese beam and/or the signal scattered from cloud top and
Experimental Module) mission to observe ultra-high surface, and absolute measurements of the range to the
cosmic rays at the ISS (International Space Station) top of the opaque clouds in the FOV of the JEM-EUSO
orbiting at 400 km altitude the method is used also telescope [2]. The direct observation data of the cloud-
to measure the cloud-top altitude which is one of top altitude obtained by the LIDAR serves as calibration
crucial information to estimate the energy of primary data from the infrared camera because of the better
cosmic rays. A novel type of space-LIDAR system has ranging resolution of the LIDAR which is about 30 m.
been proposed for JEM-EUSO telescope. This system From data by both the infrared camera and the LIDAR,
utilizes an array of rapid MEMS (Micro-Electro- accurate 3-dimensional cloud distribution and cloud-top
Mechanical Systems) micromirrors that allow shoot- altitude are determined.
ing the source laser light in any direction in the A LIDAR system is an assembly of a laser beam
view of the telescope. The detection of backscattered source, robotic steering mechanics of the light transmit-
photons is made with the JEM-EUSO telescope. The ter, photon detector, and the control electronics. In the
key element of the rotatable micromirrors is the elec- JEM-EUSO mission, the proposed new LIDAR method
trostatic analog two-axes actuators with resonance has the special beam reflector which is rotatable rapidly
frequencies of about 1 kHz. The micromirror plates in two-axes so that the direction of the LIDAR beam can
installed on top of the actuators are designed to have be instantaneously changed to any direction in the view
high-quality surface roughness (lower than 4 nm in of the telescope. Such a reflector can be fabricated using
average) and robustness in a long-term exposure to the optical MEMS(Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems)
the LIDAR beam. A prototype of the micromirror technologies. The technology has been widely applied
array was successfully tested on the ISS. The LIDAR in many fields including most commonly used optical
concept, system design, and initial test results are device which is micromirror with the typical size of
presented. hundreds of micrometers.
Keywords: JEM-EUSO, LIDAR, MEMS Micromir- The MEMS-mirror beam steering method has several
ror advantages over the conventional mechanical ways es-
pecially in space applications like the JEM-EUSO or
I. I NTRODUCTION the TUS telescopes [3]. The MEMS LIDAR concept,

For the JEM-EUSO telescope which is an observatory

on board the International Space Station (ISS) to observe
fluorescence light from extensive air showers in the
earth’s atmosphere it is important to continuously moni-
tor atmospheric transparency as the region of atmosphere
in the view of the telescope changes along the orbit at
400 km altitude [1]. It is also important for JEM-EUSO
to continuously measure the cloud-top altitude where the
fluorescence and Cerenkov light from air showers are
reflected in most of cases, providing the mark of shower
end which is used to constrain the shower profile and
consequently to determine the energy of primary cosmic Fig. 1: MEMS micromirror LIDAR concepts : single
ray. mirror operation (left) and extended angle mode (right).
2 IL H. PARK et al. NEW LIDAR WITH MEMS MICROMIRROR

Fig. 2: A schematic view of a micromirror for two-axes rotation

the design and fabrication, and initial test results are of backscattered LIDAR photons is made with the JEM-
discussed in the following sections. EUSO telescope.

II. S YSTEM C ONCEPT AND O PERATION M ODES

The key idea of the proposed LIDAR method is in III. MEMS M ICROMIRROR D ESIGN
the instantaneous control of the beam direction using
MEMS micromirrors. The array of the mirrors is a type
of optical MEMS devices that ranges from a micron to The MEMS micromirror is composed of three parts
a centimeter in size that combine mechanical, electrical, : a pair of tiny vertical combs which are electrostatic
and optical components. Various types of optical MEMS actuators, a mirror plate as a reflector, and bottom
devices have been successfully used in a wide range electrodes on glass substrate to apply a voltage. A
of applications, including optical communications, dis- schematic view of the mirror actuator and core actuating
play systems, biomedical instrumentation, and adaptive mechanism is shown in Fig. 2 [6].
optics [4]. Especially, many nice features like small The vertical comb actuation part is fabricated on a
size, high robustness, and low power consumption make Silicon-On-Insulator (SOI) wafer. The bottom silicon
the devices just suitable for space optical systems [5]. layer of the SOI wafer is patterned to form the comb
The most commonly used optical MEMS device is the electrodes attached on glass wafer to which the actuation
micromirror, which has rapid tilting speed and high voltage is applied. And the top silicon layer is used as
reliability compared with large conventional mirrors. the ground electrode that is isolated by middle silicon
The operation scheme is shown in Fig. 1 for the single thermal oxide layer. The moving part of the actuator
mirror mode (left) and for wide-angle mode (right). has a gimbal-like frame and two orthogonal pairs of
The mirror plates are rapidly rotated by the electrostatic springs allow the mirror plate to be tilted independently
force applied in the analog two-axes actuators which in two orthogonal directions. In this way the tilt angle
the mirror plates are attached to. The electrostatic force of the micromirror can be made in any direction. The
is controlled by variable applied voltage. In the single operation of the actuators are controlled by the dedicated
mirror mode total range of beam shooting direction is driver circuit that communicates with the central data
limited to the maximum titling angle of the actuators acquisition electronics of the JEM-EUSO.
which is about 8 degree. The possible range of beam The mirror plate is formed at the inner plate of the
direction can be further increased with additional fixed actuator using a wafer bonding process and the surface
mirror structure, as shown in Fig. 1 (b), covering entire is coated with an Al layer. High reflectivity and high-
FOV of the JEM-EUSO telescope. quality surface roughness is very important to obtain
The array of micromirrors are operated in a couple of well-focused beam and also to protect the mirror from
modes, depending on the purpose of the measurement. any possible damage from a long exposure to the LIDAR
In the first mode (Scanning mode) the LIDAR scans beam. The actuator part and the glass substrate with
periodically the atmospheric condition in the FOV by electrical lines are bonded together to make electrical
shooting the beam to several fixed positions. The second contact between the comb electrodes and addressing
is the targeting mode that the beam is directed to the lines. The actuator and addressing lines can be hidden
position of candidate shower event immediately after the behind the mirror plate, resulting in a high fill-in factor
JEM-EUSO third level trigger is issued. The detection of 84 % [7].
PROCEEDINGS OF THE 31st ICRC, ŁÓDŹ 2009 3

(a) Micromirror Array (b) the Comb Actuator

Fig. 3: SEM images of the fabricated micromirror

(a) Micromirror Array (b) the Comb Actuator

Fig. 4: Measured characteristics of the micromirror

IV. FABRICATION AND P ERFORMANCE OF MEMS tion of the micromirror performance was found after the
MICROMIRROR space environment tests. In addition to the ground test, a
A prototype array of 8 x 8 micromirrors were suc- test bed instrument equipped with the micromirrors was
cessfully fabricated with the design concept described in delivered to the ISS Russian Segment (RS) and tested in
the previous sections. Fig. 2 shows the SEM (Scanning the pressurizes module for one week starting from April
Electro Microscope) images of the micromirror [6]. The 11, 2008. The results demonstrate that the proposed
surface of mirror array is shown in the left (a). One of micromirrors are suitable for optical space systems. And
the mirror plates is opened to show the actuator under the successful operation of the micromirror in the ISS
the plate. The closer view of the comb actuator is shown proved the validity and applicability of the ground en-
in Fig. 2 (b). vironment test procedure for space qualification. Details
The performance has been tested under several con- in the test are described in Ref. 10.
ditions. First, the rotation angle is checked as a function
V. C ONCLUSION
of the bias voltage. The result is shown in Fig. 4 (a)
The micromirror has up to about 7 deg of static tilting A novel type of space-LIDAR method is being de-
angle. And the dynamic response of the mirror is shown veloped using the optical MEMS technology for the
in Fig. 4 (b). The torsional resonance of the structure JEM-EUSO telescope. The key characteristics is in the
was found to be at frequencies of 2 kHz and 1 kHz for steering method for the laser beam where an array of
two rotational axes. The rotation time is less than 5 ms, MEMS micromirrors rotating rapidly in two axes reflects
which is in the level of the designed performance. [8][9]. the beam from the UV source to any direction in the
Space is a unique environment that may cause se- view of telescope. The operation of micromirrors is
vere failures of MEMS devices. The micromirrors were controlled by the steering electronics which is a part of
designed to sustain their performance in the shock and DAQ electronics. The feasibility of the application has
vibration environment of the ISS. The performance of been confirmed as the fabrication of the MEMS mirrors
the fabricated micromirror was tested for shock and and the space test at the ISS have been successfully
vibration, stiction, outgassing from depressurization and finished. The remaining task in finalizing the method
heating, and electrostatic charging effects. No degrada- is to check the long term stability of the mirror and the
4 IL H. PARK et al. NEW LIDAR WITH MEMS MICROMIRROR

actuators under the radiation of laser beam.

R EFERENCES
[1] http://jemeuso.riken.jp/en/index.html
[2] S. Wada, et al. , these procedings (2009).
[3] V. Abrashkin, et al. , Advances in Space Research 41 (2008)
2079.
[4] P. F. V. Kessel, et al. , Proceedings of IEEE Special Issue 86
(1998) 1687.
[5] A. S. Kutyrev, et al. , IEEE J. Sel. Top. Quant. Elec. 10 (2004)
652.
[6] M. Kim, et al. , J. Micromech. Microeng. 19 (2009) 035014.
[7] J. H. Park, et al. , Electronics Letters 44 (2008) 1295.
[8] J. H. Park, et al. , Optics Express 16 (2008) 20249.
[9] B-W. Yoo, et al. , J. Micromech. Microeng. 18 (2008) 035031.
[10] B. Yoo, et al. , Optics Express 17 (2009) 3370.