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:
Aug. 11, 2009
Filed:
Oct. 26, 2007
Andrew Walker, Mountain View, CA (US);
Marc Hartranft, Scotts Valley, CA (US);
Michael J. Duewake, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Gerald Murphy, Carrigrobane, IE;
Kevin Gallagher, Midleton, IE;
Andrew Walker, Mountain View, CA (US);
Marc Hartranft, Scotts Valley, CA (US);
Michael J. Duewake, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Gerald Murphy, Carrigrobane, IE;
Kevin Gallagher, Midleton, IE;
Silicon Light Machines Corporation, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Abstract
An architecture and method are provided for preventing snapdown in a voltage controlled MEMS device having a movable actuator with an actuator electrode coupled to a high voltage power supply (HVPS) through a drive circuit, the movable actuator suspended over a cavity electrode formed on a substrate and coupled to a common backplane supply (VssC). Generally, the circuit includes a number of first diodes coupled between the HVPS and the actuator electrode and/or the cavity electrode to provide a forward-biased path to transfer a positive charge to the HVPS when the accumulated charge exceeds a predetermined threshold. Preferably, the drive circuit further includes second diodes to provide a low impedance path to transfer a positives charge from the actuator electrode and/or the cavity electrode to a substrate ground when the accumulated charge results in or exceeds a predetermined threshold voltage. Other embodiments are also disclosed.