Podcasts · The Hardware Podcast with Fexingo: Chips, Devices, and Electronics Engineering Conversations
How Chip-Scale Galvos Are Shrinking Laser Scanners
· 9:31 · S4 E162
Episode How Chip-Scale Galvos Are Shrinking Laser Scanners
In this episode of The Hardware Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore how chip-scale galvanometer mirrors are making laser scanning systems dramatically smaller, faster, and cheaper. They trace the technology from traditional bulky galvos used in industrial engraving and lidar to the new MEMS-based designs now appearing in AR glasses, robotic vision, and medical imaging. Lucas explains the physics of electrostatic comb drives and how they achieve high-speed beam steering with minimal power, while Luna highlights a specific example: a MEMS galvo from a recent research prototype that fits on a fingertip yet scans at kilohertz rates. They discuss the trade-offs between bandwidth, mirror size, and optical quality, and why the thermal and mechanical constraints are different from conventional galvos. The conversation also touches on packaging challenges, yield issues, and what needs to happen for these chips to move from labs to mass-market devices. A short, natural support segment near the end ties the discussion of shrinking technology to keeping the show ad-free.
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Transcript
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