Micromachining method and micromachined structure
AssigneeSeiko Instruments Inc.
InventorHiroshi Muramatsu
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A minute structure such as a cantilever 11 is formed on a silicon substrate 10 and heated by irradiating a laser beam to a part of the cantilever 11, by which the cantilever 11 is bent. The two bent cantilevers 11 are inserted into through holes 14 in a crystal substrate 10 formed in advance, and the tip end portions 15 thereof are heated. The heared tip end portions 15 become thicker and at the same time shorter, so that the crystal substrate 12 can be fixed to the silicon substrate 10 without play. By heating a part of the minute structure by such a method, plastic deformation is produced, so that bending and deforming can be performed. Thereby, a three-dimensional micromachined structure is constructed and assembled.
Claims29
A method of fabricating a microstructure having a second shape from a microstructure having a first shape, comprising the step of:
- plastically deforming the microstructure having the first shape by heating a portion thereof to form a microstructure having the second shape.
A method of fabricating a microstructure comprising the steps of:
- patterning a first microstructure by etching a portion of the first microstructure to form a plastically deformable portion;
- heating the first microstructure in the vicinity of the etched portion to cause the plastically deformable portion to become extended from remaining portions of the first microstructure;
- patterning a second microstructure to form a hole therein and placing the extended plastically deformable portion of the first microstructure in the hole so that a tip portion of the plastically deformable portion extends through the hole;
- and
- heating the tip portion of the plastically deformable portion so that a diameter thereof becomes larger than the hole and the first and second microstructures become fixedly attached.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.