A Low-Stress Microactuator Array With Integrated Thin-Film Resistors

In this letter, we present a novel approach for integrating an electrostatic microactuator with a spiral thin-film resistor on a coplanar silicon substrate. We demonstrate a technique for fabricating large arrays of silicon nitride microactuators using low-stress plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition films. The process for integrating thin-film resistors spiraled around these actuators using sputtered films of tantalum nitride (sheet resistivity up to 1.4 kΩ per square) is then presented. We discuss a key application of this technology in optically addressable adaptive optics micromirror arrays.