Micro-contact printed MEMS

We report a new method for fabricating thin (140 nm thick) suspended metal films in MEMS. Our MEMS fabrication process employs micro-contact printing. It avoids the use of solvents and etchants, obviating the need for deep reactive-ion etching and other harsh chemical treatments. Solvent absence during fabrication also avoids the deleterious effects of MEMS stiction that can result during wet processing. Elevated temperature processing is also avoided to enable MEMS fabrication on flexible polymeric substrates. Thin films up to 0.78 mm
²
in area are fabricated and the deflection of 25 μm diameter films is demonstrated. These films can be utilized in pressure sensors, microphones, deformable mirrors, tunable optical cavities, and large-area arrays of MEMS sensors.