Reshaping technique for MOEM system fabrication

Today, the fabrication of microactuators and micromechanical parts is merely based on IC fabrication technologies. However, the 2D world of microelectronics sets a limit to the 3D micromechanical world. With a new micromachining technology, reshaping, which combines advantages of 2D IC fabrication with the third dimension of the mechanical world, a surface micromachined polycrystalline structure can be deformed to any desired 3D shape. In this work, this technique is employed for the first time to realize 3D actuators, and micro-opto-electro-mechanical systems. In this work, the design, fabrication and characterization of a micromirror are discussed. The structure is reshaped in such a way that the mirror platform, which is placed between two bimorph actuators, is tilted at a desired angle. The experimental results of electro-thermally actuated structure are in good agreement with the numerical results carried out by using IntelliCAD, an FEA tool to design and simulate MEMS. The reshaped micromirror demonstrates how reshaping technology eliminates complicated, silicon area consuming actuators. The fabrication steps of the micromirror are much simpler than those of previously reported device. A barcode scanner system employing reshaped micromirrors and optical filters is proposed as one example of many possible reshaped 3D MOEM Systems.© (1998) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.