A comb-drive device used in Micro Electro Mechanical System is provided, and the comb-drive device includes: a rotor comprising a rotor body and a plurality of rotor combs provided on the rotor body; and a stator comprising one or more stator bodies and a plurality of stator combs provided on the one or more stator bodies. The rotor is spaced from the stator by a distance, the rotor and the stator are arranged along a direction in which the rotor is movable, and the plurality of rotor combs and the plurality of stator combs are alternately arranged in a direction particular to the direction in which the rotor is movable; and the rotor body is made of an insulating material, and each of the plurality of rotor combs is made of a conductive material or coated with a conductive material. The present invention can increase sensitivity and capacitance efficiency of the comb-drive device.

A method comprises applying a driver voltage to an electrostatic comb drive of an MEMS apparatus and overlaying the driver voltage with a periodic voltage signal. The method further comprises determining a torsion angle of a mirror body of the MEMS apparatus based on the periodic voltage signal.

A method of producing a MEMS assembly includes: producing an OIS/IS subassembly, wherein the OIS/IS subassembly includes an optical image stabilizer and an image sensor; and coupling the OIS/IS subassembly to an AF subassembly to form an OIS/IS/AF assembly.

A vibration-driven energy harvesting element is formed by processing a substrate having a first Si layer and a second Si layer with an insulating layer in between. The vibration-driven energy harvesting element includes: a fixed electrode formed in the first Si layer; and a movable electrode formed in the second Si layer, opposed to the fixed electrode with a gap space formed in the insulating layer in between, and movable relative to the fixed electrode.

The present invention discloses a MEMS sound transducer. The sound transducer includes: a substrate having a back cavity; a stator, the stator having a central portion suspending on the back cavity and at least two fixed arms extending from the center portion to the substrate and fixed on the substrate; a movable cantilever, mounted to the substrate, at least partially facing the back cavity and disposed between two adjacent fixed arms; wherein, the movable cantilever has a fixed end mounted to the substrate and a free edge facing the fixed arms with space; the free edge has a plurality of moving comb-fingers formed thereon; the stator has a plurality of fixed comb-fingers formed on the fixed arms; the moving comb-fingers and the fixed comb-fingers fit to each other to form a capacitor with an overlap area.

Caging structures are disclosed for caging or otherwise reducing the mechanical shock pulse experienced by MEMS device beam structures during events that may cause mechanical shock to the MEMS device. The caging structures at least partially surround the beam such that they limit the motion of the beam in a direction perpendicular to the beam's longitudinal axis, thereby reducing stress on the beam during a mechanical shock event. The caging structures may be used in combination with mechanical shock-resistant beams.

A vibration actuator includes an elastic body on which at least one projection is formed and a vibrating body including an electromechanical conversion device, and drives a driven member that is in contact with a contact portion of the projection by causing an end portion of the projection to perform an ellipsoidal movement in response to a combination of two vibration modes generated in the vibrating body when an alternating driving voltage is applied. The elastic body is formed integrally with the projection and a bonding portion between the projection and the electromechanical conversion device. A space is provided between the contact portion and the electromechanical conversion device to which the projection is bonded. The spring portion is provided between the bonding portion and the contact portion and causes the projection to exhibit a spring characteristic when the contact portion is pressed by the driven member.

A micro-electrical-mechanical system (MEMS) actuator configured to provide multi-axis movement, the micro-electrical-mechanical system (MEMS) actuator including: a first portion, a second portion, wherein the first portion and the second portion are displaceable with respect to each other, and a locking assembly configured to releasably couple the first portion and the second portion to attenuate displacement between the first portion and the second portion.

Embodiments of the disclosure provide a comb drive, a comb drive system, and a method of operating the comb drive to rotate bi-directionally in a MEMS environment. An exemplary comb drive system may include a comb drive, at least one power source, and a controller. The comb drive may include a stator comb having a first electrically conductive layer spaced apart from a second electrically conductive layer. The comb drive may also include a rotor comb having a first electrically conductive layer spaced apart from a second electrically conductive layer. The controller may be configured to apply first and second voltage levels having opposite polarities to the first and second electrically conductive layers of the rotor comb, respectively. The controller may also be configured to apply an intermediate voltage level to one of the first or second electrically conductive layers of the stator comb.

A linear comb drive may include a stator. The linear comb drive may include a rotor. At least one of the stator or the rotor may include a comb with one or more horizontally-extending fingers that have a tooth-shape formed by one or more prongs that extend vertically from the one or more fingers in a plane formed by the one or more fingers.