Another micromirror project update

Added the last polysilicon layer to mount the mirror on.  Some minor changes have been made since uploading:

Project 1 for MEMS: Micromirror: Update

We have a 3d model! Now to load it in ANSYS!

How amazing is Nanotechnology?

Breakthrough: This metal is almost as light as air

Ultralight materials are usually made up of chaotic structures, like the bubbles in aerogel. But this metal is created out of a solid, repeating structure. It's called an ultralight metallic microlattice, and it's produced in an intriguing way. The method involves using a liquid photopolymer which solidifies when hit by ultraviolet radiation. Scientists shine light on the liquid through a pattern. Only the exposed bits of the liquid become solid, creating a lattice-work scaffold, which is then coated with nickel-phosphorous. Once the photopolymer is etched away, all that is left is a 3D, hollow lattice of metal which is more air than anything else.

Video in action

Project 1 for MEMS: Micromirror

The assignment:

The objective of this project is to design a surface machining fabrication lay out for a MEMS torsional micromirror using the SANDIA SUMMiT V fabrication process and design tools.

Using the SANDIA SUMMiT V design and visualization tools, design the surface micromachning lay out for the torsional micromirror shown in the attached Power Point file. The micromirror should contain etch holes, dimples…etc as necessary. The accompanying Power point file (located on the S-drive) displays the mirror’s geometry and needed information.

My early model: 

Pictures from last week's Nanotechnology lab

This semester I'm taking an intro course for MEMS and Nanotechnology as a part of the MS/NT minor.  Here are some pictures taken from a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) of a bug and a MEMS chip

 
As a comparison, the diameter of a human hair varies from 17 to 181 µm