High performance laser shutter using a hard disk drive voice-coil actuator

Voice-coil motors in computer hard disk drives are shown to make excellent mechanical shutters for light beams. Shutter speeds in excess of $\text{10\hspace{0.5em}}\mathrm{mm}/\mathrm{ms}$ are attained, allowing switching of a focused beam in under $\text{10\hspace{0.5em}μ}\mathrm{s}$ . Aperture size can be up to $\text{32\hspace{0.5em}}\mathrm{mm}$ . As little as $\text{1\hspace{0.5em}}\mathrm{mW}$ of power is required for shutter operation. The shutter can be driven with a sinusoidal signal to switch at up to $\text{100\hspace{0.5em}}\mathrm{Hz}$ . The shutter is also suitable for x-ray applications. Essentially no modification of the drive or actuator is required for most types of operation.