Qualcomm Mems Technologies, Inc.

Gregory David U'Ren

Manish Kothari

Ming-Hau Tung

Teruo Sasagawa

Alan G Lewis

Stephen Zee

John Batey

Olivier Pierron

A microelectromechanical systems device having an electrical interconnect between circuitry outside the device and at least one of an electrode and a movable layer within the device. At least a portion of the electrical interconnect is formed from the same material as a conductive layer between the electrode and a mechanical layer of the device. In an embodiment, this conductive layer is a sacrificial layer that is subsequently removed to form a cavity between the electrode and the movable layer. The sacrificial layer is preferably formed of molybdenum, doped silicon, tungsten, or titanium. According to another embodiment, the conductive layer is a movable reflective layer that preferably comprises aluminum.

MEMS device and interconnects for same

Disclosed is a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) device and method of manufacturing the same. MEMS such as an interferometric modulator include a sidewall spacer formed adjacent to a movable mirror. The sidewall spacer may be a sacrificial spacer that is removed during fabrication, or it may remain in the final product. Increased clearance is provided between the movable mirror and a support structure during actuation of the movable mirror, thereby avoiding contact during operation of the interferometric modulator. The deformable layer may be deposited in a more continuous fashion over the contour of a lower layer as determined by the contour of the sidewall spacer, resulting in a stronger and more resilient deformable layer.

Sacrificial spacer process and resultant structure for MEMS support structure

The invention comprises devices and methods for determining residual stress in MEMS devices such as interferometric modulators. In one example, a device measuring residual stress of a deposited conduct material includes a material used to form a MEMS device, and a plurality of disconnectable electrical paths, wherein said plurality of paths are configured to disconnect as a function of residual stress of the material. In another example, a method of measuring residual stress of a conductive deposited material includes monitoring a plurality of signals, each of said plurality of signals being associated with one of a plurality of test structures, said plurality of test structures each being configured to change the associated signal upon being subject to a predetermined amount of residual stress, sensing a change in said plurality of signals, and determining a residual stress level in said material based on the sensed change in the plurality of signals.

System and method for measuring residual stress

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Berkeley, CA, United States of America

Gregory David U'Ren