Abstract:
The present invention discloses a method for generating nano patterns upon material surfaces. The method for generating nano patterns upon material surfaces comprises the following steps: providing a thin film capable of controlling lattice directions, applying a nanoindentation action to the thin film to generate an indentation at a specific position on the thin film. At least one hillock is then generated in a specific direction to generate a pattern and to be applied to a data storage system.
Abstract:
High-density microfluidic chips contain plumbing networks with thousands of micromechanical valves and hundreds of individually addressable chambers. These fluidic devices are analogous to electronic integrated circuits fabricated using large scale integration (LSI). A component of these networks is the fluidic multiplexor, which is a combinatorial array of binary valve patterns that exponentially increases the processing power of a network by allowing complex fluid manipulations with a minimal number of inputs. These integrated microfluidic networks can be used to construct a variety of highly complex microfluidic devices, for example the microfluidic analog of a comparator array, and a microfluidic memory storage device resembling electronic random access memories.
Abstract:
Nano-electromechanical device having an electrically conductive nano-cantilever wherein the nano-cantilever has a free end that is movable relative to an electrically conductive substrate such as an electrode of a circuit. The circuit includes a power source connected to the electrode and to the nano-cantilever for providing a pull-in or pull-out voltage therebetween to effect bending movement of the nano-cantilever relative to the electrode. Feedback control is provided for varying the voltage between the electrode and the nano-cantilever in response to the position of the cantilever relative to the electrode. The device provides two stable positions of the nano-cantilever and a hysteresis loop in the current-voltage space between the pull-in voltage and the pull-out voltage. A first stable position of the nano-cantilever is provided at sub-nanometer gap between the free end of the nano-cantilever and the electrode with a pull-in voltage applied and with a stable tunneling electrical current present in the circuit. A second stable position of the nano-cantilever is provided with a pull-out voltage between the cantilever and the electrode with little or no tunneling electrical current present in the circuit. The nano-electromechanical device can be used in a scanning probe microscope, ultrasonic wave detection sensor, NEMS switch, random access memory element, gap sensor, logic device, and a bio-sensor when the nano-cantilever is functionalized with biomolecules that interact with species present in the ambient environment be them in air or aqueous solutions. In the latest case, the NEMS needs to be integrated with a microfluidic system.
Abstract:
A micromachined mover includes a rotor substrate and a stator substrate. A suspension is configured to couple the rotor substrate to the stator substrate and allow relative movement therebetween in a plane of the substrates. The suspension is positioned on an interior portion of the substrates.
Abstract:
A process for manufacturing an interaction system of a microelectromechanical type for a storage medium, the interaction system provided with a supporting element and an interaction element carried by the supporting element, envisages the steps of: providing a wafer of semiconductor material having a substrate with a first type of conductivity (P) and a top surface; forming a first interaction region having a second type of conductivity (N), opposite to the first type of conductivity (P), in a surface portion of the substrate in the proximity of the top surface; and carrying out an electrochemical etch of the substrate starting from the top surface, the etching being selective with respect to the second type of conductivity (N), so as to remove the surface portion of the substrate and separate the first interaction region from the substrate, thus forming the supporting element.
Abstract:
A micro-electro-mechanical device comprises a moveable mass, a frame for supporting the mass, and a flexure extending between the mass and the frame. The flexure includes an integral actuator for moving the mass member with respect to the frame.
Abstract:
A micro-electro-mechanical device comprises a moveable mass, a frame for supporting the mass, and a flexure extending between the mass and the frame. The flexure includes an integral actuator for moving the mass member with respect to the frame.
Abstract:
The present invention is directed to a process for fabricating a microelectromechanical device from a substrate carrying at least one layer of a non-erodible material laid out to form at least a portion of the microelectromechanical device, at least one layer of an erodible material, and at least one sacrificial layer. The process includes the step of using the layer of non-erodible material as a mask and anistropically etching any of the layer of erodible material not occluded by the layer of non-erodible material. The process also includes the step of isotropically etching the sacrificial layer under at least a beam portion of the microelectromechanical device to free the beam portion of the microelectromechanical device from the substrate.