Development of a new piezoelectric galvanometer scanner: fabrication, operation, and measurements

Abstract Our objective in this study was to overcome the size and complexity of existing galvanometers by developing a direct-drive galvanometer based on the deformation of a double-layer ceramic piezoelectric disc with mirrored surface. The resulting device is extremely compact (0.41 mm), light weight, and highly responsive. The performance of the galvanometer was evaluated using an electronic speckle interferometer to characterize vibration mode characteristics. The voltage and input frequency can be adjusted to match the vibration amplitude and vibration mode required for practical galvanometer operations. Using a position sensitive detector, we recorded changes in the position of a light spot generated by a single-point laser by which to track changes in the optical path imposed by the galvanometer. Experiments using graphics drawn by an open-loop control system verified the performance of the device.