A vertical comb drive assembly may include a rotor assembly. The rotor assembly may include a comb anchor to attach the rotor assembly to a base, a comb rotor attached to the comb anchor, and a movable element attached to the comb rotor. The vertical comb drive assembly may include a stator assembly. The stator assembly may include a plate anchor to attach the stator assembly to the base, a plate, wherein the plate forms a comb stator, and a plate hinge to connect the plate to the plate anchor. The plate hinge and the plate may be configured for moving the plate from a first position where the comb rotor and the comb stator are both in a first plane to a second position where the comb rotor is in the first plane and the comb stator is in a second plane.

MEMS devices include a suspended element connected to a fixed part of a substrate by one or more flexures, wherein the one or more flexures are configured to permit movement of the suspended element relative to a fixed part of the substrate. A sensor coupled to the suspended element and a damping structure coupled to the suspended element extends into a gap between the suspended element and the fixed part of the substrate. One or more fluid confinement structures are configured to permit movement of the damping structure within a limited portion of the gap and to confine a viscoelastic fluid to the limited portion of the gap.

A physical quantity sensor includes, when three directions orthogonal to one another are defined as a first direction, a second direction, and a third direction, a substrate; and a moving member facing the substrate in the third direction via a gap and becoming displaced in the third direction in relation to the substrate. The moving member has a first region that has a plurality of penetration holes penetrating the moving member in the third direction and having a square opening shape as viewed from the third direction, and a second region having no penetration hole. At least one of a length in the first direction and a length in the second direction of the second region is equal to or greater than S0+2×S1, where S0 is a length of one side of the penetration hole, and S1 is a space between the penetration holes next to each other.

For manufacturing an optical microelectromechanical device, a first wafer of semiconductor material having a first surface and a second surface is machined to form a suspended mirror structure, a fixed structure surrounding the suspended mirror structure, elastic supporting elements which extend between the fixed structure and the suspended mirror structure, and an actuation structure coupled to the suspended mirror structure. A second wafer is machined separately to form a chamber delimited by a bottom wall having a through opening. The second wafer is bonded to the first surface of the first wafer in such a way that the chamber overlies the actuation structure and the through opening is aligned to the suspended mirror structure. Furthermore, a third wafer is bonded to the second surface of the first wafer to form a composite wafer device. The composite wafer device is then diced to form an optical microelectromechanical device.

A device for converting mechanical energy to electrical energy that include a mechanical device comprising a seismic mass flexibly connected to a base by at least one spring, a mechano-electric transducer that is associated with the mechanical device for converting mechanical energy of the seismic mass to electric energy, and an electric circuit that is connected to the mechano-electric transducer in a way that electric current is generated in the electric circuit when the seismic mass moves relative to the base. The mechano-electric transducer is designed to adjust a force that the mechano-electric transducer can exert on the mechanical device and by that to control the conversion level of the mechanical energy to the electrical energy.

Disclosed is a hinged MEMS and/or NEMS device with out-of-plane movement including a first portion and a second portion that is hinged so as to be able to rotate with respect to the first portion about an axis of rotation contained in a first mean plane of the device. The device also includes a hinging element that connects the first portion and the second portion and that is stressed flexurally and a sensing element that extends between the first portion and the second portion and that deforms during the movement of the second portion. Finally, the device includes two blades that extend perpendicularly to the mean plane of the hinge device and parallel to the axis of rotation, the blades being placed between the hinging element and the sensing element and connecting the first portion and the second portion and being stressed torsionally during the movement of the second portion.

Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) devices may include at least one actuator. The actuator has a first end attachable to more than one side of a frame of the MEMS device, and has a second end attachable to a stage of the MEMS device, particularly via a joint. Further, the second end of the actuator is configured to bend upwards or downwards when the actuator is driven and the first end is attached.

MEMS devices include fluid confinement structures on either a fixed part of a substrate and/or on a suspended element. The fluid confinement structures may be configured to confine a viscoelastic fluid in a limited part of a gap between one or more vertical sidewalls of both the fixed part of the substrate and either the suspended element or the drive beam or both the suspended element and drive beam such that one part of the gap is bridged by the fluid and another part of the gap is not, The structures may be configured to prevent flow of the fluid to other parts of the gap.

A movable device includes a light deflector including a movable part rotatable about a predetermined axis; a mount including a pair of stationary parts to which the light deflector is secured; and a substrate attached to an opposite side of a light-deflector side of the mount. The substrate has a through hole between the pair of the stationary parts.

Several types of piezoelectric MEMS vibration energy harvesters are described herein as well as methods of fabricating the vibration energy harvesters. The vibration energy harvesters generally comprise a serpentine structure having a central longitudinal axis; a piezoelectric film deposited on a surface of the serpentine structure; a central mass located at a mid-portion of the central longitudinal axis; two lateral masses positioned at opposing corners of the serpentine structure; anchor points at two other opposing corners of the serpentine structure; and upper and lower electrode layers. The energy harvesters have a 180 degree rotational symmetry about the central mass and when the serpentine structure experiences a strain, the piezoelectric film generates a voltage. The geometry of the energy harvesters allows for lower frequency and wider bandwidth operation as well as higher power density.