Integrated apertured micromirror and applications thereof

An integrated apertured micromirror is provided in which the micro mirror is monolithically integrated with a micro-optical bench fabricated on a substrate using a lithographic and deep etching technique. The micro mirror has an aperture therein and is oriented such that the micro mirror is optically coupled to receive an incident beam having an optical axis in a plane of the substrate and to at least partially transmit the incident beam there through via the aperture.

The present invention relates in general to optical systems, and in particular to optical systems including apertured micro mirrors.