A mechanical structure comprising a stack including an active substrate and at least one actuator designed to generate vibrations at the active substrate, the stack comprises an elementary structure for amplifying the vibrations: positioned between the actuator and the active substrate, the structure designed to transmit and amplify the vibrations; and comprising at least one trench, located between the actuator and the active substrate. A method for manufacturing the structure comprising the use of a temporary substrate is provided.

A sensor unit includes: a substrate; a first sensor module that is disposed at the substrate and that includes a first acceleration sensor; and a second sensor module that is disposed at the substrate and includes a second acceleration sensor, in which the first sensor module and the second sensor module are arranged to be adjacent to each other at one surface side of the substrate, the first acceleration sensor is eccentrically disposed at the second sensor module side in the first sensor module, and the second acceleration sensor is eccentrically disposed at the first sensor module side in the second sensor module.

The present inventions, in one aspect, are directed to micromachined resonator comprising: a first resonant structure extending along a first axis, wherein the first axis is different from a crystal axis of silicon, a second resonant structure extending along a second axis, wherein the second axis is different from the first axis and the crystal axis of silicon and wherein the first resonant structure is coupled to the second resonant structure, and wherein the first and second resonant structures are comprised of silicon (for example, substantially monocrystalline) and include an impurity dopant (for example, phosphorus) having a concentrations which is greater than 10.sup.19 cm.sup.3, and preferably between 10.sup.19 cm.sup.3 and 10.sup.21 cm.sup.3.

A MEMS structure including a latch, a first lever, and a second lever. The first lever is designed to move past the latch as a result of flexure in the event of a change in a parameter in a first direction, and to latch in place at the latch if a change in the parameter in a second direction different than the first direction subsequently takes place. The second lever is designed to move past the first lever as a result of flexure in the event of the change in the parameter in the second direction, and to latch in place at the first lever if a change in the parameter in the first direction takes place after the change in the parameter in the second direction.

Microelectronic structure comprising at least one movable mass that is mechanically connected to a first mechanical element by a first mechanically linking connector and to a second mechanical element (24) by electrically conductive second mechanically linking connector, and a device for electrically biasing the second mechanically linking connector, the second mechanically linking connector being such that they are the seat of a thermo-piezoresistive effect, the second linking connector and the movable mass being placed with respect to each other so that a movement of the movable mass applies a mechanical stress to the second linking connector, wherein the electrically biasing device are DC voltage biasing device and form, with at least the second mechanically linking connector, a thermo-piezoresistive feedback electric circuit.

A bending actuator and methods for making and using the same. A beam of anisotropic polymer material, such as nylon, characterized by a greater degree of molecular orientation along a longitudinal axis than transverse to the longitudinal axis, has a heating element in thermal contact with at least one of a pair of opposing faces parallel to the longitudinal axis of the beam. The heating element in certain embodiments provides for photothermal activation of the bending actuator.

The disclosure provides a MEMS device including: a fixed substrate having a cavity; a driving unit disposed in the cavity and floating above the fixed substrate; and an elastic unit for physically connecting the fixed substrate with the driving unit and varying the height of the driving unit according to a control current, wherein the elastic unit includes a bimorph driving unit connected to the fixed substrate and bent according to the control current, a spring connected to the driving unit, and a frame connecting the bimorph driving unit to the spring. Therefore, in order to overcome the limitations according to the power consumption and the size-reduction due to a coil and a magnet, the MEMS device drives one lens and thus can reduce the power consumption and the size thereof.

A method bilayer composite thin-film beam structure is described. The structure incorporates a bulk phase change material as small inclusions in one layer of a bimorph. The structure, also referred to as a phase change composite bimorph or PCBM, curls abruptly, and reversibly, at a phase transition temperature. Large curling and effective expansion coefficients are demonstrated. The PCBMs may be employed in various self-assembly mechanisms and actuators.

Single bulk unimorph piezoelectric elements, with interdigitated electrodes aligned obliquely relative to the direction perpendicular to the axis of the element, such that a torsional response is induced into the element. When such elements are used as a beam structure, with angularly oriented electrodes on both opposite surfaces of the beam, and with their orientations at mutually opposite angles, motion ranging from pure torsional rotation to pure bending can be obtained, depending on the comparative level and polarity of the voltages applied to each of the two electrode sets. If such elements are used as the spiral support arms of a central platform, a large displacement of the stage can be achieved. Due to the oblique orientation of the IDE's, the piezoelectric transduction induces torsional deformation in the spirals, and this torsion is converted by the spiral arms to a parallel out-of-plane platform motion.

Provided is an optical micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) based monitoring system, comprising: a broadband light source, a tunable optical filter (TOF), an optical etalon, a plurality of optical receivers, a plurality of optical couplers, and a plurality of optical MEM sensors; the TOF is configured to capture a transmission, reflection or interference spectrum of the optical MEMS sensors; wherein the peak or depression wavelength in the transmission, reflection or interference spectrum corresponds to a parameter of the pressure, temperature or stress, and the peak or depression wavelength can be obtained by comparing the spectrum with the periodic spectrum of the optical etalon, the optical etalon has an absolute wavelength mark; and the optical MEMS sensor comprises an optical MEMS resonator. The parameter of the pressure, temperature or stress can be obtained by the peak or depression wavelength in the transmission, the reflection or the interference spectrum of the optical MEMS sensor.