Design and fabrication of GaN crystal ultra-small lateral comb-drive actuators

Abstract

Ultra-small electromechanical comb-drive actuators made of GaN crystal were studied in order to apply them to optical micro-electromechanical systems. Using GaN crystals grown on Si substrates by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition, two kinds of electrostatic comb-drive actuators were designed and fabricated. In the fabrication, due to a residual stress of the grown crystal, the movable part of the actuator suffered considerable deformation depending on the growth conditions. The strain-stress issue of the grown crystal layer is discussed on the basis of lattice misfit and thermal expansion. To compensate for a convex deformation, crystallization tension of a thin HfO2 film deposited on a GaN layer was investigated. The displacement of the actuator having dimensions of 52.2 μm in width and 105.4 μm in length was 1.3 μm at 70 V. Several variable systems will be feasible by combining the actuators monolithically with GaN opt-electronic devices. Future applications are also briefly discussed.