Technological aspects of a new micro-electro-mechanical actuation principle: nano-e-drive

Abstract

This paper presents the technological aspects of a newly demonstrated actuation principle, the so-called nano-e-drive. Using this principle, cantilevers can be moved in or out of chip plane. In this paper, only the out-of-plane version of the nano-e-drive will be presented. Wafer topography is the main feature on which the nano-e-drive principle is based. From a technological point of view, the challenge is to generate a user-defined topography and then to optimize all technological steps for the previously defined topography. Layer deposition, lithography and etching are the main technological steps to be optimized during the processing of the nano-e-drive actors. The process is a mixture of surface and bulk technology. Nano-e-drive actuators with different topographies are fabricated and characterized electrically. The results are presented and discussed in detail.