A micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) device includes a movable comb structure located in a cavity within an enclosure, and a stationary structure affixed to the enclosure. The movable comb structure includes a comb shaft portion and movable comb fingers laterally protruding from the comb shaft portion. The movable comb structure includes a metallic material portion. The movable structure and the stationary structure are configured to generate an electrical output signal based on lateral movement of the movable structure relative to the stationary structure.

A method for fabricating a cantilever having a device surface, a tapered surface, and an end region includes providing a semiconductor substrate having a first side and a second side opposite to the first side and etching a predetermined portion of the second side to form a plurality of recesses in the second side. Each of the plurality of recesses comprises an etch termination surface. The method also includes anisotropically etching the etch termination surface to form the tapered surface of the cantilever and etching a predetermined portion of the device surface to release the end region of the cantilever.

Methods for fabricating MEMS tuning fork gyroscope sensor system using silicon wafers. This provides the possibly to avoid glass. The sense plates can be formed in a device layer of a silicon on insulator (SOI) wafer or in a deposited polysilicon layer in a few examples.

A method for transferring microstructures, comprising at least the steps of: (i) bonding a plurality of microstructures formed on one surface of a supplier substrate to a silicone-based rubber layer formed on a donor substrate; (ii) separating some or all of the plurality of microstructures from the supplier substrate and transferring the some or all of the plurality of microstructures to the donor substrate through the silicone-based rubber layer to produce the donor substrate having the to plurality of microstructures temporality fixed thereon; (iii) washing or neutralizing the donor substrate having the plurality of microstructures temporality fixed thereon; (iv) drying the washed or neutralized donor substrate having the plurality of microstructures temporality fixed thereon; and (v) transferring the dried donor substrate having the plurality of microstructures temporality fixed thereof so that the donor substrate can be subjected to a subsequent step. According to the method, a plurality of steps can be carried out while temporality fixing microstructures on a single donor substrate, and therefore it becomes possible to achieve the transfer of the microstructures with high efficiency without increasing the number of steps.

A method is provided for fabricating a thin-film semiconductor substrate by forming a porous semiconductor layer conformally on a reusable semiconductor template and then forming a thin-film semiconductor substrate conformally on the porous semiconductor layer. An inner trench having a depth less than the thickness of the thin-film semiconductor substrate is formed on the thin-film semiconductor substrate. An outer trench providing access to the porous semiconductor layer is formed on the thin-film semiconductor substrate and is positioned between the inner trench and the edge of the thin-film semiconductor substrate. The thin-film semiconductor substrate is then released from the reusable semiconductor template.

A method for manufacturing a structural layer in a silicon wafer is provide. The silicon wafer has at least two areas vertically recessed to at least two recess depths, with the first recess depth being greater than the second recess depth. The method includes forming a silicon dioxide pattern, a mask layer and a silicon dioxide pad layer, etching the structural layer in a main LOCOS oxidation process, and removing the formed layers exposing the recessed structural layer. The manufactured structural layer has a bump structure with the recess depth smaller than the second recess depth, and the recessed area has no edge steps.

A MEMS acoustic transducer provided with: a substrate of semiconductor material, having a back surface and a front surface opposite with respect to a vertical direction; a first cavity formed within the substrate, which extends from the back surface to the front surface; a membrane which is arranged at the upper surface, suspended above the first cavity and anchored along a perimeter thereof to the substrate; and a combfingered electrode arrangement including a number of mobile electrodes coupled to the membrane and a number of fixed electrodes coupled to the substrate and facing respective mobile electrodes for forming a sensing capacitor, wherein a deformation of the membrane as a result of incident acoustic pressure waves causes a capacitive variation of the sensing capacitor. In particular, the combfingered electrode arrangement lies vertically with respect to the membrane and extends parallel thereto.

Representative methods for sealing MEMS devices include depositing insulating material over a substrate, forming conductive vias in a first set of layers of the insulating material, and forming metal structures in a second set of layers of the insulating material. The first and second sets of layers are interleaved in alternation. A dummy insulating layer is provided as an upper-most layer of the first set of layers. Portions of the first and second set of layers are etched to form void regions in the insulating material. A conductive pad is formed on and in a top surface of the insulating material. The void regions are sealed with an encapsulating structure. At least a portion of the encapsulating structure is laterally adjacent the dummy insulating layer, and above a top surface of the conductive pad. An etch is performed to remove at least a portion of the dummy insulating layer.

A method of liquid-mediated pattern transfer includes providing a substrate comprising (a) a semiconductor film adhered to the substrate and (b) a first patterned layer on the semiconductor film. The substrate is submerged in a delamination liquid, whereby the semiconductor film is delaminated from the substrate while the first patterned layer remains on the semiconductor film. A patterned semiconductor membrane ready for transfer is thus obtained. The patterned semiconductor membrane is transferred to a target substrate in a transfer liquid, and then the transfer liquid is removed (e.g., evaporated). The patterned semiconductor membrane adheres to the target substrate as the transfer liquid is removed.

An exemplary method includes forming a sacrificial layer along sidewalls of an array of trenches that are indented into a substrate, depositing a fill layer over the sacrificial layer, and then creating an array of gaps between the fill layer and the substrate by removing the sacrificial layer along the sidewalls of the trenches, while maintaining a structural connection between the substrate and the fill layer at the floors of the trenches. The method further includes covering the substrate, the fill layer, and the gaps with a cap layer that seal fluid-tight against the substrate and the fill layer. The method further includes indenting a first reservoir and a second reservoir through the cap layer, and into the substrate and the fill layer, across the lengths of the array of gaps, so that the array of gaps connects the first reservoir in fluid communication with the second reservoir.