Richard S. Muller (Advisor)

Miniature Gaseous Light Sources

Hsi-Jen Yeh
Richard S. Muller
Roger T. Howe
1991

This report describes miniature gas-filled plasma-discharge cavities fabricated using combined surface and subsurface micromachining. Starting with a bare silicon substrate, successive layers of polycrystalline silicon, low-stress silicon nitride, and low-temperature oxide layers were deposited to form the micro cavities. Polysilicon electrodes were patterned to serve as electrical connections to the gas. Low-stress silicon nitride formed the insulating layer and the cavity wall which confined neon at atmospheric pressure. Low-temperature oxide served as the sacrificial layer which defined...

Micromechanical Electrostatic Voltmeter

Charles Heng-Yuan Hsu
Richard S. Muller
Roger T. Howe
1991

A microminiature, noncontracting electrostatic voltmeter (ESV), produced by IC processes on a silicon wafer, is described. The ESV works on the principle of intermittent shuttering and exposing a sensing electrode to an electric field between a remote electrode at a different potential from the sensing electrode. The resultant time-varying field at the electrode produces an electrical signal. The principle of ESV measurements by intermittent shuttering is well establihsed and hybrid designs are presently used commerically. This invention teaches how the entire structure, and eventually the...

Analysis and Characterization of the Vertical Carrier Domain Magnetometer

Bret S. Burns
Richard S. Muller
Roger T. Howe
1989
The point of semiconductor device analysis is to find useful predictors of device performance. With these we can design to specifications, uncover promising directions for improving device operation, and understand device limitations. An actual device has no...

Micro-Optical Devices for Communications and Beyond

Meng-Hsiung Kiang
Kam Y. Lau
Richard S. Muller
Raymond Y. Chiao
1998
The area of micro-optics covers a variety of techniques used for developing miniaturized optical components and systems for applications ranging from optical communications and information processing and storage, to biomedical instrumentation...

Integrated Micromachinery -- Moving Structures on Silicon Chips

Long-Sheng Fan
Richard S. Muller
1990

Some basic issues of integrated micromachinery -- microassembly, material, and actuation, have been studied. This manuscript describes four new techniques in surface micromachining: l. in situ assembly and the use of multiple sacrificial layers,...

Batch-Fabricated Ferromagnetic Microactuators with Silicon Flexures

Jack William Judy
Richard S. Muller
Richard M. White
Timothy D. Sands
1996
This manuscript investigates the use of magnetism and ferromagnetic materials in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and describes ways to integrate ferromagnetic materials with conventional silicon-based surface micromachining. Surface-microma-chined, batch-fabricated structures that combine plated-nickel and nickel-iron films with polysilicon mechanical flexures, are studied. The microstructures are constructed in a batch-fabrication process that uses electroplating and conventional lithography, materials,...