The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 10, 2002
Filed:
Jun. 07, 1995
Larry J. Hornbeck, Van Alstyne, TX (US);
Texas Instruments Incorporated, Dallas, TX (US);
Abstract
A support pillar for use with a micromechanical device, particularly a digital micromirror device, comprising a pillar material supported by a substrate and covered with a metal layer . The support pillar is fabricated by depositing a layer of pillar material on a substrate , patterning the pillar layer to define a support pillar , and depositing a metal layer over the support pillar enclosing the support pillar. A planar surface even with the top of the pillar may be created by applying a spacer layer over the pillars . After applying the spacer layer , holes are patterned into the spacer layer to remove any spacer material that is covering the pillars. The spacer layer is then reflowed to fill the holes and lower the surface of the spacer layer such that the surface is coplanar with the tops of the support pillars