A thermal actuated Membrane as oscillating Pinhole for the high-frequent Modulation of Light

We present theory, processing steps and first results for a thermally actuated Aluminiumnitride-Platinum membrane with a resonant frequency of the first mode at around 100 kHz and resonant displacements at its center of around 30 µm. The radial-symmetric membrane is broadband opaque for wavelengths from visual light and beyond. An exception is a small pinhole of various diameters below 3 µm in its center. Through thermally induced asymmetric stress inside the multilayer, the clamped membrane bends out. The pinhole in its center will be displaced parallel to the optical axis.The intended use for such a membrane is to replace the traditional confocal pinhole in the detection path of a microscope. Applying a stable known resonant modulation on an acquired signal enables a lock-in principle for a differential confocal depth sensing as shown in [1]. The advantage over the employed tunable acoustic gradient lens (TAG lens) there, is the reduced size, the simplicity of the arrangement and constant illumination properties on the sample. [1] Tino Hausotte et al.: High-speed focal-distance-modulated fiber-coupled confocal sensor for coordinate measuring systems. In: Appl. Opt, OSA (2018)