Advanced micromechanisms in a multi-level polysilicon technology Page: 11 of 12
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Note the poly3 hook on the maze wheel at the top of
figure 18D. As the maze is negotiated, this hook
rotates clockwise. If all decisions are correctly made
the hook eventually engages a poly3 pin attached to the
top of the deadbolt linkage arm (figures 18G & H).
Another partial turn of the pin-in-maze drive gear pulls
the deadbolt out of the microengine linkage arm that
drives the optical shutter. The second microengine
then drives the shutter to the enabled position, and the
optical signal path is complete. The entire operation
occurs in less than 100 milliseconds. Successful opera-
tion of this device with a VCSEL mounted to the
backside of the wafer has also been demonstrated.
The primary goal of this assemblage was to demon-
strate that the necessary level of complex interactions
can be realized with surface micromachined technol-
ogy. Although this combined set of functions does not
possess the details of a fieldable mechanical lock, it
successfully demonstrates that full-up devices will be
possible.
5. SUMMARY
The first operational microengines demonstrated that a
quad-level polysilicon technology offers tremendous
potential. Through a continuous sequence of design
improvements, many enabled by advances in fabrica-
tion technology, we have begun to exploit that poten-
tial. For example, our latest comb drives produce
many times the force per unit area of their predeces-
sors. Furthermore, this force can be multiplied by
orders of magnitude with newly developed micro-
transmissions. For years engineers were constrained to
designing modest assemblies that could be powered by
a few micronewtons of force. Now we can work with
hundreds of micronewtons, and in the near future it is
conceivable that actuation systems capable of deliver-
ing millinewtons or even tens of millinewtons will be
available. Forces at this level are sufficient to fabricate
large self-assembling 3D structures with functionality
not yet conceived.
For the present we are creating complex assemblies
that perform useful functions and with significant ben-
efits when compared to macro components. These
benefits are primarily size, mass, self-assembly, and
batch fabrication. In its present form the microme-
chanical lock only has application as a research proto-
type, and a demonstration of the technology. How-
ever, its success and the success of the other structuresdiscussed here are being combined to produce a system
that dramatically surpasses the current device. In
fabrication are systems that would have been hard to
imagine just a year ago, and the current development
pace shows no signs of slowing.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors are grateful to Michael Callahan for fund-
ing this work, and the personnel of the Microelectron-
ics Development Laboratory at Sandia National Labo-
ratories for fabricating and evaluating the devices used
in this study.
Sandia is a multiprogram laboratory operated by San-
dia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin Company, for the
United States Department of Energy under Contract
DE-AC04-94AL85000.
REFERENCES
1. J. J. Sniegowski, S. L. Miller, G. LaVigne, M. S.
Rodgers, and P. J. McWhorter, "Monolithic Geared
Mechanisms Driven by a Polysilicon Surface Ma-
chined On-chip Electrostatic Engine", Technical Di-
gest of the 1996 Solid State Sensor and Actuator
Workshop, Hilton Head Island, SC, pp.178-182, June
3-6, 1996.
2. J. J. Sniegowski and E. J. Garcia, "Microfabricated
Actuators and Their Application to Optics", Proc.
SPIE Miniaturized Systems with Micro-Optics and Mi-
cromechanics, 2383, 2/7-9/95, San Jose, CA, pp. 46-
64, 1995.
3. E. J. Garcia and J. J. Sniegowski, "Surface Microma-
chined Microengine as the Driver for Micromechanical
Gears", Proc. of the 8th International Conf on Solid-
State Sensors and Actuators and Eurosensors IX,
6/25-29/95, Stockholm, Sweden 1, pp. 365-368, 1995.
4. R. D. Nasby, J. J. Sniegowski, J. H. Smith, S. Mon-
tague, C. C. Barron, W. P. Eaton, P. J. McWhorter, D.
L. Hetherington, C. A. Apblett, and J. G. Fleming,
"Application of Chemical-Mechanical Polishing to
Planarization of Surface Micromachined Devices",
Technical Digest of the 1996 Solid State Sensor and
Actuator Workshop, Hilton Head Island, SC, pp.48-53,
June 3-6, 1996.. t
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Rodgers, M. S.; Sniegowski, J. J.; Miller, S. L.; Barron, C. C. & McWhorter, P. J. Advanced micromechanisms in a multi-level polysilicon technology, article, August 1, 1997; Albuquerque, New Mexico. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc691586/m1/11/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.