Fabrication and electromechanical characterization of silicon on insulator based electrostatic micro-scanners

Abstract

In this paper, a silicon on insulator based electrostatic micro-scanner with extremely low pull-in voltage and fast switching time is proposed. Two symmetric mirror plates are suspended by a cross suspension lever anchored on the substrate. A buried silicon dioxide (BOX) layer underneath the anchors separates the two actuation electrodes. The symmetric design can not only provide better balance of the mirror plates than cantilever design but also increase the dynamic range by scanning in two directions. The structural parameters of the micro-scanner are optimized for a combination of dynamic performance and actuation voltage according to finite element analysis (FEA). Squeeze film damping effects are addressed by a comparison of the theoretical analysis using FEA with experimental results. The testing results show that the pull-in voltage of the micro-scanner is as low as 2.7 V, making it compatible with off-the-shelf control logic circuits. The demonstrated tilt angle is approximately 0.5 • and may be increased by adjusting the thickness of the pre-specified BOX layer.

Photoluminescence of a Freely Suspended Monolayer of Quantum Dots Encapsulated into Layer-by-Layer Films

“…The microfabricated silicon wafers with microcavity arrays were prepared as described elsewhere. Briefly, the half-inch, 64 × 64 array of microcavities with the 80 μm diameter and the 70 μm depth were fabricated by etching the cylindrical holes using the deep reactive ion etching processing. , …”

“…Briefly, the half-inch, 64 × 64 array of microcavities with the 80 µm diameter and the 70 µm depth were fabricated by etching the cylindrical holes using the deep reactive ion etching processing. 26,27 Synthesis of CdSe Nanoparticles. Core-shell CdSe/ZnS QDs were prepared according to the known procedure.…”

Thermo-Optical Arrays of Flexible Nanoscale Nanomembranes Freely Suspended over Microfabricated Cavities as IR Microimagers

“…21b, 23,[28][29][30] The half-inch 64 × 64 array of microcavities was fabricated by etching the cylindrical holes using the deep reactive etching processing. 31,32 The thermal expansion and contraction of the air inside the microcavity result in the positive/negative pressure differential and corresponding deflection of the flexible membrane which caps the silicon microcavity (Figure 1b). The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) micrographs of the silicon substrate with the microfabricated array show a high quality of cylindrical microcavities arranged in a rectangular lattice (Figure 1c).…”

Scanning Micromirror Platform Based on MEMS Technology for Medical Application

“…Surface electrodes are also used for rotational stages for both one DOF and two DOFs. For one-axis micromirrors, the range of motion can be up to 9° for SOI microfabrication [ 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 ]. Bulk silicon materials [ 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 ] and monocrystalline silicon [ 68 ] are also validated for this methodology as well.…”