Three-dimensional (3-D) reshaping technique in MEMS devices by solely electrical control with ultrafine tuning resolution

This paper reports an innovative and simple three-dimensional (3-D) reshaping (plastic deformation) technique in MEMS devices by solely electrical control with ultrafine tuning resolution. The proposed plastic deformation technique adopted the creep phenomenon to achieve the desired plastic deformation. While voltage input induced stress on the device to start the creep phenomenon, Joule heating was applied to accelerate the creep phenomenon. Then, plastic deformation was successfully demonstrated with solely electrical control, where the tuning resolution was demonstrated at a sub-100nm level.