Claims
- 1. A process for reducing curvature in isolated micromachined elements comprising the steps of:
providing a micromachined structure having an upper surface and a substantially matching lower surface with said upper surface having a curvature positioning it out of plane and created by processing stresses distributed non uniformly throughout a depth of said structure; applying surface modifying energy to said structure to alter the distribution of the stresses throughout said structure to reduce the out of plane curvature.
- 2. The process of claim 1 wherein said structure is supported to provide freedom of movement of at least a portion of said structure.
- 3. The process of claim 2 wherein said structure is flexibly supported.
- 4. The process of claim 2 wherein said structure includes an actuable motive force generator whereby in response to actuation, said structure is forced to undergo movement thereby.
- 5. The process of claim 1 wherein said structure is supported to expose said upper surface and the curvature of said upper surface is nonplanar.
- 6. The process of claim 5 wherein said surface modifying energy is an ion beam.
- 7. The process of claim 6 wherein said ion beam is uniform.
- 8. The process of claim 6 wherein said beam is an Argon ion beam.
- 9. The process of claim 1 wherein said surface modifying energy is an ion beam.
- 10. The process of claim 9 wherein said ion beam is uniform.
- 11. The process of claim 9 wherein said beam is an Argon ion beam.
- 12. The process of claim 1 wherein said surface modification reduces said curvature to substantial insignificance for use of said upper surface as a reflector.
- 13. The process of claim 1 wherein said distribution of stresses nets to compressive on a distance weighted basis above a neutral central surface between said upper and lower surfaces.
- 14. The process of claim 1 wherein said distribution of stresses is substantially compressive near said upper surface.
- 15. A structure supported for movement formed according to any one of claims 1 through 14.
- 16. A structure supported for movement and micromechanically formed, said structure having an upper surface substantially planar in shape with at least a portion of said upper surface being surface sputtered.
- 17. The structure of claim 16 wherein at least a portion of said upper surface is grown with a stress character different from a stress characteristic of other portions of said structure.
- 18. The structure of claim 16 or 17 further including a motive force generating structure for moving said stucture in response to an actuating signal.
- 19. Apparatus for reducing curvature in isolated micromachined elements comprising:
a housing for a micromachined structure having an upper surface and a substantially matching lower surface with said upper surface having a curvature positioning it out of plane and created by processing stresses distributed non uniformly throughout a depth of said structure; a source of a surface modifying energy for application to said structure to alter the distribution of the stresses throughout said structure to reduce the out of plane curvature.
- 20. The apparatus of claim 19 wherein said structure is supported to provide freedom of movement of at least a portion of said structure.
- 21. The apparatus of claim 20 wherein said structure is flexibly supported.
- 22. The apparatus of claim 20 wherein said structure includes an actuable motive force generator whereby in response to actuation, said structure is forced to undergo movement thereby.
- 23. The apparatus of claim 19 wherein said structure is supported to expose said upper surface and the curvature of said upper surface is nonplanar.
- 24. The apparatus 23 wherein said surface modifying energy is an ion beam.
- 25. The apparatus of claim 24 wherein said ion beam is uniform.
- 26. The apparatus of claim 24 wherein said beam is an Argon ion beam.
- 27. The apparatus 19 wherein said surface modifying energy is an ion beam.
- 28. The apparatus of claim 27 wherein said ion beam is uniform.
- 29. The apparatus of claim 27 wherein said beam is an Argon ion beam.
- 30. The apparatus of claim 19 wherein said surface modification reduces said curvature to substantial insignificance for use of said upper surface as a reflector.
- 31. The apparatus of claim 19 wherein said distribution of stresses nets to compressive on a distance weighted basis above a neutral central surface between said upper and lower surfaces.
- 32. The apparatus of claim 19 wherein said distribution of stresses is substantially compressive near said upper surface.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to Provisional Application No. 60/171,402, filed Dec. 21, 1999; the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF GOVERNMENT SUPPORT
[0002] This invention was made with government support under Contract Number DABT63-95-C-0065 awarded by the Department of the Army. The Government has certain rights in the invention.
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60171402 |
Dec 1999 |
US |
Continuations (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
PCT/US00/34800 |
Dec 2000 |
US |
Child |
10175977 |
Jun 2002 |
US |