Fabrication of microshutter arrays for space application

Mary J. Li; I. S. Aslam; Audrey J. Ewin; Rainer K. Fettig; David E. Franz; Carl A. Kotecki; Alexander S. Kutyrev; Samuel Harvey Moseley Jr.; Carlos J. Monroy; David Brent Mott; Yun Zheng

doi:10.1117/12.425314

30 April 2001 Fabrication of microshutter arrays for space application

Mary J. Li, I. S. Aslam, Audrey J. Ewin, Rainer K. Fettig, David E. Franz, Carl A. Kotecki, Alexander S. Kutyrev, Samuel Harvey Moseley Jr., Carlos J. Monroy, David Brent Mott, Yun Zheng

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 4407, MEMS Design, Fabrication, Characterization, and Packaging; (2001) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.425314
Event: Microelectronic and MEMS Technologies, 2001, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Abstract

Two-dimensional microshutter arrays are being developed at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center for the Next Generation Space Telescope (NGST) for use in the near-infrared region. Functioning as object selection devices, the microshutter arrays are designed for the transmission of light with high efficiency and high contrast. The NGST environment requires cryogenic operation at 45K. Arrays are close-packed silicon nitride membranes with a pixel size of 100 X 100 micrometers . Individual shutters are patterned with a torsion flexure permitting shutters to open 90 degrees with a minimized mechanical stress concentration. The mechanical shutter arrays are fabricated with MEMS technologies. The processing includes a RIE front-etch to form shutters out of the nitride membrane, an anisotropic back-etch for wafer thinning, and a deep RIE (DRIE) back-etch down to the nitride shutter membrane to form frames and to relieve shutters from the silicon substrate. Two approaches for shutter actuation have been developed. Shutters are actuated using either a combined mechanical and electrostatic force or a combined magnetic and electrostatic force. A CMOS circuit embedded in the frame between shutters allows programmable shutter selection for the first approach. A control of row and column electrodes fulfills shutter selection for the second approach.

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Mary J. Li, I. S. Aslam, Audrey J. Ewin, Rainer K. Fettig, David E. Franz, Carl A. Kotecki, Alexander S. Kutyrev, Samuel Harvey Moseley Jr., Carlos J. Monroy, David Brent Mott, and Yun Zheng "Fabrication of microshutter arrays for space application", Proc. SPIE 4407, MEMS Design, Fabrication, Characterization, and Packaging, (30 April 2001); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.425314

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