A method of forming a space includes a step of tenting, on a substrate having a recessed portion, a dry film including a dry film material that is to be a top plate on the recessed portion. The step of tenting the dry film includes a press period and a release period and performs a press-release cycle of the press period and the release period a plurality of times, a pressed state in which the dry film is pressed against the substrate by using a pressing member is maintained during the press period, and a released state in which the pressed state is released is maintained during the release period.

A simplified MEMS fabrication process and MEMS device is provided that allows for cheaper and lighter-weight MEMS devices to be fabricated. The process comprises etching a plurality of holes or other feature patterns into a MEMS device, and then etching away the underlying wafer such that, after the etching process, the MEMS device is the required thickness and the individual die are separated, avoiding the extra steps of wafer thinning and die dicing. By etching trenches into the substrate wafer and filling them with a MEMS base material, sophisticated taller MEMS devices with larger force may be made.

A micro electro mechanical system (MEMS) includes a circuit substrate, a first MEMS structure disposed over the circuit substrate, and a second MEMS structure disposed over the first MEMS structure.

Methods and apparatus for subtractively fabricating three-dimensional structures relative to a surface of a substrate and for additively depositing metal and dopant atoms onto the surface and for diffusing them into the bulk. A chemical solution is applied to the surface of the semiconductor substrate, and a spatial pattern of electron-hole pairs is generated by projecting a spatial pattern of illumination characterized by a specified intensity, wavelength and duration at each pixel of a plurality of pixels on the surface. An electrical potential is applied across the interface of the semiconductor and the solution with a specified temporal profile relative to the temporal profile of the spatial pattern of illumination. Such methods are applied to the fabrication of a photodetector integral with a parabolic reflector, cell size sorting chips, a three-dimensional photonic bandgap chip, a photonic integrated circuit, and an integrated photonic microfluidic circuit.

Methods and apparatus for subtractively fabricating three-dimensional structures relative to a surface of a substrate and for additively depositing metal and dopant atoms onto the surface and for diffusing them into the bulk. A chemical solution is applied to the surface of the semiconductor substrate, and a spatial pattern of electron-hole pairs is generated by projecting a spatial pattern of illumination characterized by a specified intensity, wavelength and duration at each pixel of a plurality of pixels on the surface. Charge carriers are driven away from the surface of the semiconductor on a timescale short compared to the carrier recombination lifetime. Such methods are applied to creating a spatially varying doping profile in the semiconductor substrate, a photonic integrated circuit and an integrated photonic microfluidic circuit.

According to one embodiment, a method for creating a metal nanowire mesh the method includes forming a first layer of block copolymer, causing the block copolymer to become aligned in approximately straight lines, infiltrating one phase of the block copolymer with a metal, and removing the block copolymer where the metal remains after the block copolymer is removed. Furthermore, the method includes forming a second layer of block copolymer, causing the block copolymer in the second layer to become ordered in approximately straight lines oriented at an angle from greater than 0 degrees to 90 degrees from a mean direction of longitudinal axes of the remaining metal, infiltrating one phase of the block copolymer in the second layer with a second metal, and removing the block copolymer in the second layer where the second metal remains above the metal after the block copolymer in the second layer is removed.

A method and apparatus are provided to prevent or reduce stiction of a MEMS device. The MEMS device may include a protrusion extending from a surface of the MEMS device. During manufacture, the protrusion may be connected across an opening in the MEMS device to a sidewall of the substrate. Before manufacture of the MEMS device is completed, at least a portion of the protrusion connecting the MEMS device to the substrate may be removed. During operation, the protrusion may provide stiction prevention or reduction for the surface from which the first protrusion may extend. A plurality of protrusions may be formed along a plurality of surfaces for the MEMS device to prevent or reduce stiction along the corresponding surfaces. Protrusions may also be formed on devices surrounding or encapsulating the MEMS device to prevent or reduce stiction of the MEMS device to the surrounding or encapsulating devices.

Disclosed herein an inertial sensor and a method of manufacturing the same. An inertial sensor 100 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention is configured to include a plate-shaped membrane 110, a mass body 120 that includes an adhesive part 123 disposed under a central portion 113 of the membrane 110 and provided at the central portion thereof and a patterning part 125 provided at an outer side of the adhesive part 123 and patterned to vertically penetrate therethrough, and a first adhesive layer 130 that is formed between the membrane 110 and the adhesive part 123 and is provided at an inner side of the patterning part 125. An area of the first adhesive layer 130 is narrow by isotropic etching using the patterning part 125 as a mask, thereby making it possible to improve sensitivity of the inertial sensor 100.

A method of forming a space includes a step of tenting, on a substrate having a recessed portion, a dry film including a dry film material that is to be a top plate on the recessed portion. The step of tenting the dry film includes a press period and a release period and performs a press-release cycle of the press period and the release period a plurality of times, a pressed state in which the dry film is pressed against the substrate by using a pressing member is maintained during the press period, and a released state in which the pressed state is released is maintained during the release period.

In one embodiment of the present invention, an electronic device includes a first emitter/collector region and a second emitter/collector region disposed in a substrate. The first emitter/collector region has a first edge/tip, and the second emitter/collector region has a second edge/tip. A gap separates the first edge/tip from the second edge/tip. The first emitter/collector region, the second emitter/collector region, and the gap form a field emission device.