Hughes Aircraft Company

Memsolutions, Inc.

Other

Hughes Electronics Corporation

Intel Corporation

E Beam Inc.

Michael J Little

William P Robinson

Eric A Gifford

Jan Grinberg

Uzi Efron

Hugh L Garvin

Randall Lynn Kubena

LeRoy H Hackett

Harry A Dellamano

Shi-Yin Wong

Roger H Brown

Clarence P Hoberg

Yuri Owechko

Paul O Braatz

Murray S Welkowsky

Michael W Yung

Hong S Lim

J David Margerum

Michael N Ernstoff

Thomas A Nussmeier

John E Jensen

James A Foschaar

James G Nash

William R Byles

Theodore Calderone

Robert N Schwartz

Yat-Shir Lee

Soyeon P Laub

A method of making a micro electromechanical switch or tunneling sensor. A cantilevered beam structure and a mating structure are defined on a first substrate or wafer; and at least one contact structure and a mating structure are defined on a second substrate or wafer, the mating structure on the second substrate or wafer being of a complementary shape to the mating structure on the first substrate or wafer. A bonding layer, preferably a eutectic bonding layer, is provided on at least one of the mating structures. The mating structure of the first substrate is moved into a confronting relationship with the mating structure of the second substrate or wafer. Pressure is applied between the two substrates so as to cause a bond to occur between the two mating structures at the bonding or eutectic layer. Then the first substrate or wafer is removed to free the cantilevered beam structure for movement relative to the second substrate or wafer.

Single crystal, dual wafer, tunneling sensor and a method of making same

A method of making a micro electro-mechanical switch or tunneling sensor. A cantilevered beam structure and a mating structure are defined on a first substrate or wafer; and at least one contact structure and a mating structure are defined on a second substrate or wafer, the mating structure on the second substrate or wafer being of a complementary shape to the mating structure on the first substrate or wafer. A bonding layer, preferably a eutectic bonding layer, is provided on at least one of the mating structures. The mating structure of the first substrate is moved into a confronting relationship with the mating structure of the second substrate or wafer. Pressure is applied between the two substrates so as to cause a bond to occur between the two mating structures at the bonding or eutectic layer. Then the first substrate or wafer is removed to free the cantilevered beam structure for movement relative to the second substrate or wafer.

Single crystal dual wafer, tunneling sensor and a method of making same

A thin low power, paper white, direct-view display includes an array of bistable micromirrors that are deflected between two stable states, a dark state in which the mirror covers a portion of the background and a white state in which the mirror uncovers the background. The drive electronics are similar to those used in multiplexed LDCs but are modified in order to drive the micromirrors to one of their two stable states. The micromirrors in the enabled row are attracted up or down with sufficient force to exceed the micromirrors' bistable threshold and deflect the micromirrors to their dark and white states, respectively. The attractive forces on the micromirrors in the remaining non-enabled rows are insufficient to exceed the micromirrors' bistable threshold so that the micromirrors remain in their current stable state.

Bistable paper white direct view display

A micromirror light valve target configuration that overcomes the problems of limited deflection range, electrostatic and resolution by forming the secondary electron collector grid of a fine conductive mesh and placing it in close proximity to the micromirror array. The source, preferably a fixed beam array, addresses the micromirror array such that it exhibits a secondary emission coefficient less than one to write a negative charge pattern onto the mirrors so that they are attracted to the collector grid. If the anode is also in close proximity to the array, the mirrors can be addressed so that they deflect up toward the grid and down toward the anode thereby increasing the deflection range.

Grid-actuated charge controlled mirror and method of addressing the same

A thin low power, paper white, direct-view display includes an array of bistable micromirrors that are deflected between two stable states, a dark state in which the mirror covers a portion of the background and a white state in which the mirror uncovers the background. The drive electronics are similar to those used in multiplexed LCDs but are modified in order to drive the micromirrors to one of their two stable states. The micromirrors in the enabled row are attracted up or down with sufficient force to exceed the micromirrors' bistable threshold and deflect the micromirrors to their dark and white states, respectively. The attractive forces on the micromirrors in the remaining non-enabled rows are insufficient to exceed the micromirrors' bistable threshold so that the micromirrors remain in their current stable state.

A bright, high contrast, compact, large area, high-resolution light modulator uses a field emitter array (FEA) to address a charge controlled mirror (CCM). The FEA deposits a charge pattern onto the CCM, which in turn produces electrostatic forces that deflect the micromirrors in accordance with the amount of accumulated charge. The CCM that is used in combination with the FEA can be configured in many different ways to implement different actuation modes, e.g. attractive, repulsive, grid-actuated or membrane-actuated and different charge control modes, e.g. RC decay, RC sustain and charge control.

Field emission charge controlled mirror (FEA-CCM)

A flat-panel direct view display positions an array of electrostatically-actuated cantilevered micromirrors in front of a contrasting background and opposite a flat-panel electron beam source. Depending upon the display configuration, the electron beam source addresses either the array of micromirrors or a reference surface a row at a time while the other is held at a reference potential. The electron beams modulate the potential difference between each micromirror and the reference surface thereby adjusting the magnitude of the attractive electrostatic force between the two. This in turn modulates the deflection of the micromirrors between their quiescent and fully actuated states to selectively cover and uncover the background thereby producing a grey scale direct-view image.

Beam-addressed micromirror direct view display

The present invention provides a Schlieren projection system with a large aperture reflective imager. The combination of a beam-addressed CCM design with flat-panel manufacturing techniques configuration produces a large aperture imager that overcomes the problems of limited deflection range, high beam current, electrostatic instability and limited resolution associated with known electrostatically-actuated micromirror targets. The CCM imager includes a thin insulating membrane that decouples the electron beam from the micromirror array. Decoupling also allows the mirror to be designed to optimize reflectivity, exhibit a higher resonant frequency for better video performance, and be fabricated simultaneously with the hinges. The CCM imager is fabricated using flat-panel manufacturing techniques that are ideally suited to producing large aperture devices at low cost.

Membrane-actuated charge controlled mirror (CCM) projection display

A beam addressed electrostatically-actuated charge controlled mirror (CCM) with frame time utilization approaching 100% is provided by partially coating the CCM's pixelized beam addressing surface with a material having the opposite electron affinity. Each pixel of the pixelized beam addressing surface has first and second portions that exhibit secondary emission coefficients that are respectively less than and greater than one for the same beam energy. A beam or beams that are capable of subpixel resolution selectively address each pixel's first and second portions to control the amount of charge on the pixelized beam addressing surface and its localized potentials.

Charge controlled mirror with improved frame time utilization and method

An electrostatically actuated micromirror light modulator that exhibits increased deflection range, better charge efficiency and improved electrostatic stability. A thin insulating membrane decouples the electron beam from the micromirror array inside the vacuum cell. The membrane is just thick enough to stop the incident electrons from penetrating through to the mirrors but is thin enough to maintain resolution of the deposited charge pattern. An equipotential layer beneath the mirror array prevents any attractive force from being developed due to the accumulation of static charge on the surface of the light modulator that may otherwise cause the mirror to snap-over and become stuck to the substrate.

Membrane-actuated charge controlled mirror

A high intensity light modulator includes a micro-mirror light valve target with electrostatically-repelled micro-mirror elements. Each micro-mirror of the target array comprises a base electrode and an overlying micro-mirror element. In operation, charge is deposited upon the micro-mirrors to produce repulsive electrostatic forces that outwardly deflect the micro-mirror elements by an amount proportional to the deposited charge. In one embodiment, an array of micro-mirror light valves is formed directly upon the face plate of a vidicon tube and is addressed using a scanning electron gun.

Light valve target comprising electrostatically-repelled micro-mirrors

A high intensity image projection system includes a micro-mirror light valve target with micro-mirror elements repulsively pivotally-actuable. Each micro-mirror of the target array comprises a fixed base electrode joined to an overlying micro-mirror element by means of a hinge with each element formed of conductive material. As such, in operation, charge deposited upon either the base electrode or the micro-mirror element is free to migrate, in response to repulsive forces between deposited charges, to the element spaced therefrom. The resulting presence of like charge distributions upon the base electrode and micro-mirror element of a micro-mirror produces a repulsive electrostatic force for pivotally deflecting the micro-mirror element by an amount proportional to the charge deposited thereon. Capacitive charge storage elements and resistive paths are provided for storing and draining the deposited charge between applications of video frame information. In one embodiment, an array of micro-mirror light valves is formed directly upon the face plate of a vidicon tube. In another, a foil is formed that is mounted within the tube by a surrounding clip. In a third embodiment, charge is delivered through a matrix of transistors.

A method for fabricating resilient z-axis contacts to electrically interconnect IC wafers or MCMs in 3-D integrated circuits uses photolithography to provide larger carrier sizes, higher contact densities by decreasing the spacing, smaller contact footpads, and precise control of the contact's shape and position. The contacts are fabricated by forming photoresist patterns on the carrier's top and bottom surfaces that are initially rectangular, and then reflowing the photoresist materials to provide smooth surfaces suitable for forming the metal contacts, and depositing metal layers over the respective patterns. Second photoresist patterns are formed over respective metal layers to conform with the contact's shape, the metal is etched away according to the pattern, and the photoresists are removed such that the remaining metalization forms a resilient z-axis contact that is attached to the carrier and extends therefrom with a predetermined shape.

Method for fabricating resilient z-axis contacts for electrically

An integrated-circuit interconnect which can be formed at the wafer level is achieved by depositing an intentionally stressed contact layer over a release layer which is subsequently removed. The removal of the release layer permits a portion of the contact layer to curve away from the surface of an integrated circuit chip. The result is a spring contact having a base portion joined to a metal member of the chip and a spring portion which is available for joining to other metal members, e.g., on a substrate or another chip. The resilience of the spring portion can also be used to position and align integrated circuit elements.

Integrated circuit spring contact fabrication methods

An integrated-circuit interconnect which can be formed at the wafer level is achieved by depositing an intentionally stressed contact layer over a release layer which is subsequently removed. The removal of the release layer permits a portion of the contact layer to curve away from the surface of an integrated chip. The result is a spring contact having a base portion joined to a member of the chip and a spring portion which is available for joining of other metal members, e.g., on a substrate or another chip. The resilience of the spring portion can also be used to position and align integrated circuit elements.

Growing community of inventors

Woodland Hills, CA, United States of America

Michael J Little