A method comprises: patterning a substrate, including a conductive region, with photoresist exposed by lithography, where the substrate is mounted on a handle substrate; forming a comb structure with conductive fingers on the substrate by at least removing a portion of the conductive region of the substrate; removing the photoresist; forming, one atomic layer at a time, at least one atomic layer of at least one conductor over at least one sidewall of each conductive finger; attaching at least one insulator layer to the comb structure, and the substrate from which the comb structure is formed; and removing the handle substrate.

A surface monitoring device is for monitoring a contact surface of a detected object. The surface monitoring device and the detected object are disposed on a substrate. The surface monitoring device includes a resonant mechanical part, having a contact tip adjacent to the contact surface by a preset gap in a static state. A driving circuit, applying an AC input signal to drive the resonant mechanical part to cause the contact tip to vibrate with respect to the contact surface at a plurality of sampling frequencies. The contact tip substantially hits the contact surface in a tapping bandwidth within the sampling frequencies. An analysis circuit to analyze a ratio of an output voltage to an input voltage of the input signal and determine the tapping bandwidth, wherein the ratio in the tapping bandwidth is jumping to a flatten phase.

An optical device includes an elastic support portion which includes a torsion bar which extends along a second direction perpendicular to a first direction and a nonlinearity relaxation spring which is connected between the torsion bar and a movable portion. The nonlinearity relaxation spring is configured so that a deformation amount of the nonlinearity relaxation spring around the second direction is smaller than a deformation amount of the torsion bar around the second direction and a deformation amount of the nonlinearity relaxation spring in a third direction perpendicular to the first direction and the second direction is larger than a deformation amount of the torsion bar in the third direction while the movable portion moves in the first direction. A comb electrode is disposed along an outer edge of the movable portion.

A microelectromechanical system (MEMS) transducer includes a substrate and a pair of electrodes supported by the substrate. The pair of electrodes are configured as a bias electrode-sense electrode couple. A moveable electrode of the pair of electrodes is configured for vibrational movement in a first direction during excitation of the moveable electrode. The pair of electrodes are spaced apart from one another by a gap in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. The moveable electrode includes a cantilevered end, the cantilevered end being warped to exhibit a resting deflection along the first direction.

A micromechanical arm array is provided. The micromechanical arm array comprises: a plurality of micromechanical arms spaced from each other in a first horizontal direction and extending in a second horizontal direction, wherein each micromechanical arm comprises a protrusion at a top of each micromechanical arm and protruding upwardly in a vertical direction; a plurality of protection films, each protection film encapsulating one of the plurality of micromechanical arms; and a metal connection structure extending in the first horizontal direction. The metal connection structure comprises: a plurality of joint portions, each joint portion corresponding to and surrounding the protrusion of one of the plurality of micromechanical arms; and a plurality of connection portions extending in the first horizontal direction and connecting two neighboring joint portions.

The structure of a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) thermal sensor and a method of fabricating the MEMS thermal sensor are disclosed. A method of fabricating a MEMS thermal sensor includes forming first and second sensing electrodes with first and second electrode fingers, respectively, on a substrate and forming a patterned layer with a rectangular cross-section between a pair of the first electrode fingers. The first and second electrode fingers are formed in an interdigitated configuration and suspended above the substrate. The method further includes modifying the patterned layer to have a curved cross-section between the pair of the first electrode fingers, forming a curved sensing element on the modified patterned layer to couple to the pair of the first electrodes, and removing the modified patterned layer.

A micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) device includes a supporting substrate, a cavity, a stopper, a MEMS structure, and a bonding dielectric layer. The cavity is located at a top surface of the supporting substrate. The stopper is adjacent to the cavity, where a top surface of the stopper and the top surface of the supporting substrate are on the same level in a height. The MEMS structure is disposed on the supporting substrate, where the MEMS structure includes a proof mass and a suspension beam. The proof mass is disposed directly above the stopper, and the suspension beam is disposed directly above the cavity. The bonding dielectric layer is disposed between the top surface of the supporting substrate and a bottom surface of the MEMS structure.

The technology relates to cosharding tables within a distributed storage system. A data table including one or more rows may be received. Each row in the data table may include an identifier key and pieces of data. Each piece of data in the data table may be indexed into individual rows of an index table, wherein each row in the index table includes data associated with the identifier key of the data table from which the piece of data in the respective row was indexed. The index table may be sharded into splits, wherein the sharding includes assigning each row of the index table into one of the splits based on the identifier key of the data table from which the piece of data in the respective row was indexed. The splits may be stored into two or more portions of the distributed storage system.

Microphones including a housing defining a cavity, a plurality of conductors positioned within the cavity, at least one dielectric bar positioned within the cavity, and a transducer diaphragm. The conductors are structured to move in response to pressure changes while the housing remains fixed. A first conductor generates first electrical signals responsive to the pressure changes resulting from changes in an atmospheric pressure. A second conductor generates second electrical signals responsive to the pressure changes resulting from acoustic activity. The dielectric bar is fixed with respect to the cavity and remains fixed under the pressure changes. The dielectric bar is adjacent to at least one of the conductors. In response to an applied pressure that is an atmospheric pressure and/or an acoustic pressure, the transducer diaphragm exerts a force on the housing and displaces at least a portion of conductors with respect to the dielectric bar.

The structure of a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) thermal sensor and a method of fabricating the MEMS thermal sensor are disclosed. A method of fabricating a MEMS thermal sensor includes forming first and second sensing electrodes with first and second electrode fingers, respectively, on a substrate and forming a patterned layer with a rectangular cross-section between a pair of the first electrode fingers. The first and second electrode fingers are formed in an interdigitated configuration and suspended above the substrate. The method further includes modifying the patterned layer to have a curved cross-section between the pair of the first electrode fingers, forming a curved sensing element on the modified patterned layer to couple to the pair of the first electrodes, and removing the modified patterned layer.