Assembling and applying nano-electro-mechanical systems
AssigneeCarnegie Mellon University
InventorL. Richard Carley
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Abstract
A method of constructing devices using semiconductor manufacturing processes includes fabricating a device having a movable portion and a fixed portion. The movable portion is connected to the fixed portion only through at least one sacrificial layer. The sacrificial layer is removed in the presence of a force of sufficient strength so as to controllably reposition the movable portion during the release process. The force can be externally applied, generated locally as a result of, for example, the relative positions of the fixed and movable portions, or some combination of the two. Several devices constructed according to such a method are also disclosed.
Claims15
A method of constructing devices using semiconductor manufacturing processes, comprising:
- fabricating a device having a movable portion and a fixed portion, said movable portion being supported by the fixed portion only through at least one sacrificial layer;
- removing said sacrificial layer so as to completely release said movable portion from all supporting structure in the presence of a non-gravitational force of sufficient strength so as to controllably reposition said movable portion, wherein the non-gravitational force is present at a time of sacrificial layer removal, wherein the non-gravitational force controllably repositions the movable portion at the time of sacrificial layer removal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.