A method of fabricating pre-structured functional wafers, pre-structured functional cuboid or wafer stack, and a method of fabricating an array of functional multilayer stack actuators made of relaxor ferroelectric single crystal piezoelectric thin layers comprising sequentially repeated steps of wafer dicing and trench refilling into relatively thick wafer(s). A bulk-micromachined dimensioned deformable mirror device comprising a base supporting substrate, a plurality of stack actuators that is made by segmenting a pre-structured relaxor ferroelectric single crystal piezoelectric cuboid or wafer stack, a plurality of pedestals disposed on the plurality of stack actuators; a deformable membrane mirror mounted on said pedestals; and a plurality of addressable electrode contacts.

In a method of manufacturing a piezoelectric device, during an isolation formation step, a supporting substrate has a piezoelectric thin film formed on its front with a compressive stress film present on its back. The compressive stress film compresses the surface on a piezoelectric single crystal substrate side of the supporting substrate, and the piezoelectric thin film compresses the back of the supporting substrate, which is opposite to the surface on the piezoelectric single crystal substrate side. Thus, the compressive stress produced by the compressive stress film and that produced by the piezoelectric thin film are balanced in the supporting substrate, which causes the supporting substrate to be free of warpage and remain flat. A driving force that induces isolation in the isolation formation step is gasification of the implanted ionized element rather than the compressive stress to the isolation plane produced by the piezoelectric thin film.

A method for fabricating semiconductor device includes the steps of: forming a first magnetic tunneling junction (MTJ) on a substrate; forming a first ultra low-k (ULK) dielectric layer on the first MTJ; performing a first etching process to remove part of the first ULK dielectric layer and forming a damaged layer on the first ULK dielectric layer; and forming a second ULK dielectric layer on the damaged layer.

Various embodiments to mitigate the contamination of electroplated cobalt-platinum films on substrates are described. In one embodiment, a method of manufacture of a device includes depositing a diffusion barrier over a substrate, depositing a seed layer upon the diffusion barrier, and depositing a cobalt-platinum magnetic layer upon the seed layer. In a second embodiment, a method of manufacture of a device may include depositing a diffusion barrier over a substrate and depositing a cobalt-platinum magnetic layer upon the diffusion barrier. In a third embodiment, a method of manufacture of a device may include depositing an adhesion layer over a substrate, depositing a seed layer upon the adhesion layer, and depositing a cobalt-platinum magnetic layer over the seed layer. Based in part on these methods of manufacture, improvements in the interfaces between the layers can be achieved after annealing with substantial improvements in the magnetic properties of the cobalt-platinum magnetic layer.

There is provided a magnetic deformable member that is deformable upon application of magnetism, and that has a front surface that projects toward the side opposite to a magnet when such a magnet is placed. The front surface provides variations in tactile feel or viewability for humans by providing a soft tactile feel. A magnetic deformable member includes: a flexible sheet; a back plate made of a hard material and stacked on the flexible sheet; a gel charged inside a space between the flexible sheet and the back plate; and a magnetic member having an annular shape as viewed in plan in a direction that is perpendicular to a front surface of the flexible sheet and having a length in the perpendicular direction. The magnetic member is secured to the flexible sheet, and disposed in the gel.

There is provided a magnetic deformable member that is deformable upon application of magnetism, and that has a front surface that projects toward the side opposite to a magnet when such a magnet is placed. The front surface provides variations in tactile feel or viewability for humans by providing a soft tactile feel. A magnetic deformable member 10 includes: a flexible sheet; a back plate made of a hard material and stacked on the flexible sheet; a gel charged inside a space between the flexible sheet and the back plate; and a magnetic member having an annular shape as viewed in plan in a direction that is perpendicular to a front surface of the flexible sheet and having a length in the perpendicular direction. The magnetic member is secured to the flexible sheet, and disposed in the gel.

A piezoelectric substrate manufacturing device that includes first and electrodes that face each other with a piezoelectric substrate interposed therebetween; a cover that surrounds the second electrode such that the leading end of the second electrode is exposed; a supply unit that supplies a processing gas to an internal space of the cover; a processing unit that performs surface processing on the piezoelectric substrate by applying a voltage between the first and second electrodes causing the processing gas to change into plasma; a detector that is provided outside the cover with its relative position fixed with respect to the second electrode; a measurement unit that measures the thickness of the piezoelectric substrate using the detector; a driving unit that changes the relative positions of the first and second electrodes; and a control unit that controls the supply unit, the processing unit, the measurement unit, and the driving unit.

A sub-micrometer pressure sensor including a multilayered magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) pillar containing a magnetostrictive material layer above or below a magnetic free layer of the multilayered MTJ pillar is provided. Advanced patterning allows for scaling of the multilayered MTJ pillar down to 25 nm or below which enables the formation of a large array of extremely high resolution pressure sensors. By varying the thickness of the magnetostrictive material layer, the sensitivity of the pressure sensor can be fine tuned. Unique magnetostrictive materials in the multilayered MTJ pillar will alter the device current with the input of external pressure. Furthermore, unique arrays with much smaller critical elements can be organized in differential sensing arrangements of the multilayered MTJ pillar with pressure sensing capability that can outperform current piezoelectric based pressure sensing arrays.

A method for producing a piezoelectric single crystal ingot shows small variation in the concentration of PbTiO.sub.3 in the growth direction of single crystal. A complete solid solution-type piezoelectric single crystal ingot is produced by using the Bridgman method, including: filling a starting material, wherein a relaxor having a compositional formula Pb(B.sub.1,B.sub.2)O.sub.3 is blended with lead titanate having a composition PbTiO.sub.3 to give a preset composition, into a crucible for growth; heating to the melting temperature to give a melted liquid layer; then moving the crucible for growth toward the low temperature side; and thus starting one-direction solidification from the lower part of the crucible to thereby produce a single crystal. During solidification, the feedstock containing the relaxor and lead titanate having a maximum grain size 3 mm is continuously supplied into the crucible.

Various embodiments to mitigate the contamination of electroplated cobalt-platinum films on substrates are described. In one embodiment, a device includes a substrate, a titanium nitride diffusion barrier layer formed upon the substrate, a titanium layer formed upon the titanium nitride diffusion barrier layer, a platinum seed layer, and a cobalt-platinum magnetic layer formed upon the platinum seed layer. Based in part on the use of the titanium nitride diffusion barrier layer and/or the platinum seed layer, improvements in the interfaces between the layers can be achieved after annealing, with less delamination, and with substantial improvements in the magnetic properties of the cobalt-platinum magnetic layer. Further, the cobalt-platinum magnetic layer can be formed at a relatively thin thickness of hundreds of nanometers to a few microns while still maintaining good magnetic properties.