Microelectromechanical integrated microloading device

Abstract

A novel apparatus and technique or characterizing materials at submicron scale and for characterizing micromechanical devices integrates test specimens with the testing device. The test specimen is a micromechanical structure made of the material to be characterized or may be a device under evaluation. A microloading instrument is a microelectromechanical structure incorporating a stable, planar frame to which is connected a multiplicity of comb-type capacitive actuators. A variable drive voltage applied across the actuator plates selectively moves the frame structure along a longitudinal axis in a controlled fashion. The frame is mounted to a fixed substrate by means of laterally extending spring arms which position the capacitor plates and guide the motion of the frame along the longitudinal axis. The micro loading instrument is calibrated by buckling a long slender beam cofabricated with the instrument. The instrument's small size and vacuum compatibility allow material testing in macroscopic analytical devices, such as TEM to study in-situ the micro-structural changes of the test specimens. The small size of the system allow material testing in chambers with various environment conditions. The single crystal core of each beam has a high aspect ratio with the dielectric and metal layers overhanging the bottom edge of the core by an amount to balance the stresses and strains within the structure to maintain planarity of the beams and thus of the microloading instrument.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.