Monolithic fringe-field-activated crystalline silicon tilting-mirror devices

Author

Greywall, Dennis S. ; Pai, Chien-Shing ; Oh, Sang-Hyun ; Chang, Chorng-Ping ; Marom, Dan M. ; Busch, Paul A. ; Cirelli, Raymond A. ; Taylor, J. Ashley ; Klemens, Fred P. ; Sorsch, Thomas W. ; Bower, John Eric ; Lai, Warren Y C ; Soh, Hyongsok T.

Author_Institution

Bell Labs., Murray Hill, NJ, USA

Volume

12

Issue

5

fYear

2003

Firstpage

702

Lastpage

707

Abstract

A new approach is presented for fabricating monolithic crystalline silicon tilting-mirror microoptoelectromechanical systems (MOEMS) devices. The activation electrodes, etched from a thick silicon layer deposited over insulating oxide onto the top surface of a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer, are displaced from the mirrors and interact with these tilting elements via electrostatic fringing fields. In contrast to the more usual parallel-plate activation, the rotation angle saturates at high voltages. This paper discusses concept, design, and processing, and also compares modeling and measured performance of a specific 9° tilt range device array.

Keywords

electrostatic actuators; micromirrors; optical fabrication; rotation; silicon; silicon-on-insulator; MEMS devices; MOEMS devices; SOI wafer; Si; activation electrodes; crystalline Si tilting-mirror devices; electrostatic fringing fields; fringe-field electrostatic activation; fringe-field-activated tilting-mirror devices; manufacturable process; microoptoelectromechanical systems; monolithic tilting-mirror devices; rotation angle saturation; Crystallization; Electrodes; Electrostatics; Etching; Insulation; Mirrors; Process design; Semiconductor device modeling; Silicon on insulator technology; Voltage;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Microelectromechanical Systems, Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1057-7157

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/JMEMS.2003.818068

Filename

1240141