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Dive into the research topics where M. Zickar is active.

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Featured researches published by M. Zickar.


international conference on micro electro mechanical systems | 2004

A clean wafer-scale chip-release process without dicing based on vapor phase etching

T. Overstolz; P.-A. Clerc; W. Noell; M. Zickar; N.F. de Rooij

A new method to release MEMS chips from a wafer without dicing is presented. It can be applied whenever SOI wafers are used that are structured from both the device and the handle side using DRIE. This method enables the release of extremely fragile structures without any mechanical impact on the chips. No more dicing residues or debris are created and deposited onto the wafer. The basic idea consists of etching deep surrounding trenches on the device and the handle layer that are displaced by about 20 /spl mu/m and thus create overlapping areas. For release, the buried silicon dioxide between the overlapping areas is etched away using hydrofluoric acid vapor phase etching.


IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics | 2007

Arrays of High Tilt-Angle Micromirrors for Multiobject Spectroscopy

Severin Waldis; Frederic Zamkotsian; P.-A. Clerc; W. Noell; M. Zickar; N. de de Rooij

Micromirror arrays are promising components for generating reflective slit masks in future multiobject spectrographs. The micromirrors, 100 mum times200 mum in size, are etched in bulk single crystal silicon, whereas a hidden suspension is realized by surface micromachining. The micromirrors are actuated electrostatically by electrodes located on a second chip. The use of silicon on insulator (SOI) wafers for both mirror and electrode chip ensures thermal compatibility for cryogenic operation. A system of multiple landing beams has been developed, which latches the mirror at a well-defined tilt angle when actuated. Arrays of 5times5 micromirrors have been realized. The tilt angle obtained is 20deg at a pull-in voltage of 90 V. Measurements with an optical profiler showed that the tilt angle of the actuated and locked mirror is stable with a precision of 1 arcmin over a range of 15 V. This locking system makes the tilt angle independent from process variations across the wafer and, thus, provides uniform tilt angle over the whole array. The surface quality of the mirrors in actuated state is better than 10-nm peak to valley and the local roughness is about 1-nm root mean square


Optics Express | 2006

MEMS compatible micro-GRIN lenses for fiber to chip coupling of light

M. Zickar; Wilfried Noell; C. Marxer; Nico F. de Rooij

Graded-Index (GRIN) lenses with a diameter of 125 mum are presented. This diameter enables the assembly of the GRIN lenses onto an optical micro-system using the same passive alignment grooves as used for the light carrying optical fibers. In contrast to refractive lenses, GRIN lenses have flat endfaces and the focal distance of a GRIN lens is defined by its length. Therefore, GRIN lenses can be diced from a selected multimode optical fiber with a regular wafer dicing machine. The effects of the resulting surface roughness are reduced by immersing the optical parts into index matching oil, which can not be applied for refractive lenses. This has a further advantage since an anti-reflective coating becomes dispensable. The coupling efficiency of a collimator set-up using the GRIN lenses is studied using paraxial ray calculations. The calculated minimal coupling losses of less than 0.3 dB are in excellent agreement with the measured results. Losses smaller than 2 dB over a coupling length of 2 mm have been measured.


Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering | 2006

Wafer level hermetic package and device testing of a SOI-MEMS switch for biomedical applications

Rogier Receveur; M. Zickar; C. Marxer; Vincent Larik; Nicolaas F. de Rooij

We have designed a wafer level chip scale package for a bi-stable SOI-MEMS dc switch using a silicon-glass hermetic seal with through the lid feedthroughs. Bonded at 365 °C, 230 V and 250 kg, they pass the fine/gross leak test after thermal cycling and mechanical shock/vibration according to MIL-STD-833, fulfilling the requirements for biomedical applications. The measured shear strength is 114 ± 26 N in correspondence with the theoretically expected 100 N. Ruthenium microcontacts are a factor of 100 more robust than gold microcontacts, being stable over 106 cycles measured in a N2 atmosphere inside the package presented here. Future work will include a more extensive bond quality assessment and continued microcontact reliability measurements.


IEEE\/ASME Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems | 2006

Design, Simulation, Fabrication, and Characterization of a Digital Variable Optical Attenuator

Winston Sun; W. Noell; M. Zickar; Muhammad Junaid Mughal; Frank Perez; Nabeel A. Riza; N.F. de Rooij

In this paper, we present the design, simulation, fabrication, and some measurement and characterization of a novel 16-bit digital variable optical attenuator (VOA) that attenuates by switching individual mirror of an array as an attempt to achieve input voltage variation independence and output linearization. The design was aided by a simulation package that features coupled electrostatic and mechanical solver. The mirror array spans an area of 1500times1500 mum2 and contains 16 equal-length rectangular micromirrors. Each mirror is suspended by two torsion beams. Experiments on beam design and width variations are conducted. Assuming Gaussian distribution, the mirror widths computed by an iteration algorithm vary from about 40 to 250 mum. Based on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology, two fabrication schemes to open the backside optical entrance were investigated. A hydrofluoric (HF) acid vapor-phase-etching (VPE) setup built to release the microstructure anhydrously is the key to achieve high yield especially for fragile components. Surface flatness, resonance frequencies, and tilt angles of selected mirrors were characterized. Quartz chips patterned with aluminum electrodes and 10 mum-high SU8 spacer columns were fabricated and assembled to corresponding device chips. Optical performance adversely affected by mirror bending is believed to originate from the intrinsic stress of the SOI wafer


Journal of Micro-nanolithography Mems and Moems | 2008

Uniform tilt-angle micromirror array for multiobject spectroscopy

Severin Waldis; Frederic Zamkotsian; P.-A. Clerc; Wilfried Noell; M. Zickar; Patrick Lanzoni; Nicolaas F. de Rooij

We report on micromirror arrays being developed for use as reflective slit masks in multiobject spectrographs for astronomical applications. The micromirrors are etched in bulk single crystal silicon, whereas cantilever-type suspension is realized by surface micromachining. One micromirror element is 100200 m in size. A system of multiple landing beams is developed, which electrostatically clamps the mirror at a well-defined tilt angle when actuated. The mechanical tilt angle obtained is 20 deg at a pull-in voltage of 90 V. Measurements with an optical profiler show that the tilt angle of the actuated mirror is stable with a precision of one arc minute over a range of 15 V. This electrostatic clamping system provides uniform tilt angle over the whole array: the maximum deviation measured between any two mirrors is as low as one arc minute. The surface quality of the mirrors in the actuated state is better than 10 nm peak-to-valley and the local roughness is around 1-nm rms. Cryogenic testing shows that the micromirror device is functional at temperatures below 100 K.


Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering | 2006

High-fill factor micro-mirror array for multi object spectroscopy

Severin Waldis; P.-A. Clerc; Frederic Zamkotsian; M. Zickar; Wilfried Noell; Nico F. de Rooij

Programmable multi-slit masks are required for next generation Multi-Object Spectrograph (MOS) for space as well as for ground-based instruments. A promising solution is the use of MOEMS devices such as micromirror arrays (MMA) or micro-shutter arrays (MSA), which both allow the remote control of the multi-slit configuration in real time. In the present work we developed and microfabricated a novel micro mirror array suited for this application. The requirements are: high contrast, optically flat (λ/20) mirrors in operation, high fill factor, uniform tilt angle over the whole array and low actuation voltage. In order to fulfill these requirements we use a combination of bulk and surface micromachining in silicon. The mirrors are actuated electrostatically by a separate electrode chip. The mirrors are defined by deep reactive ion etching in the 10μm thick device layer of a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer, whereas the suspension of the mirrors is defined by a patterned poly-silicon layer hidden on the backside of the mirrors. The mirror size is 100 x 200 μm2 and the dimensions of a typical cantilever suspension are 100 x 5 x 0.6 μm3. On a separate SOI wafer the electrodes and the spacers are processed by using a self aligned delayed mask process. The first results on the mirror chips show that the micromirrors can easily achieve the desired mechanical tilt angle of more than 20° associated with a good surface quality, which is necessary for a high contrast spectroscopy.


international symposium on optomechatronic technologies | 2007

Micromirror arrays for object selection

Severin Waldis; Frederic Zamkotsian; P.-A. Clerc; M. Zickar; Wilfried Noell; Nico F. de Rooij

We report on micromirror arrays being developed for object selection in Multi Object Spectrographs for astronomical applications. The micromirrors are etched in bulk single crystal silicon whereas the cantilever type suspension is realized by surface micromachining. One micromirror element is 100μm × 200μm in size. The micromirrors are actuated electrostatically by electrodes located on a second chip. The use of silicon on insulator (SOI) wafers for both mirror and electrode chip ensures thermal compatibility for cryogenic operation. A system of multiple landing beams has been developed, which passively locks the mirror at a well defined tilt angle when actuated. The mechanical tilt angle obtained is 20° at a pull-in voltage of 90V. Measurements with an optical profiler showed that the tilt angle of the actuated and locked mirror is stable with a precision of one arc minute over a range of 15V. This locking system makes the tilt angle merely independent from process variations across the wafer and thus provides uniform tilt angle over the whole array. The precision on tilt angle from mirror to mirror measured is one arc minute. The surface quality of the mirrors in actuated state is better than 10nm peak-to-valley and the local roughness is around 1nm RMS. Preliminary cryogenic tests showed that the micromirror device sustains 120K without any structural damage.


Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering | 2007

Uniform tilt-angle micromirror array for multi-object spectroscopy

Severin Waldis; P.-A. Clerc; Frederic Zamkotsian; M. Zickar; Wilfried Noell; Nico F. de Rooij

We report on micromirror arrays being developed for the use as reflective slit mask in Multi Object Spectrographs for astronomical applications. The micromirrors are etched in bulk single crystal silicon whereas the cantilever type suspension is realized by surface micromachining. One micromirror element is 100μm x 200μm in size. The micromirrors are actuated electrostatically by electrodes located on a second chip. The use of silicon on insulator (SOI) wafers for both mirror and electrode chip ensures thermal compatibility for cryogenic operation. A system of multiple landing beams has been developed, which passively locks the mirror at a well defined tilt angle when actuated. The mechanical tilt angle obtained is 20o at a pull-in voltage of 90V. Measurements with an optical profiler showed that the tilt angle of the actuated and locked mirror is stable with a precision of one arc minute over a range of 15V. This locking system makes the tilt angle merely independent from process variations across the wafer and thus provides uniform tilt angle over the whole array. The precision on tilt angle from mirror to mirror measured is one arc minute. The surface quality of the mirrors in actuated state is better than 10nm peak-to-valley and the local roughness is around 1nm RMS.


Journal of Physics: Conference Series | 2006

Development of scanning micromirror with discrete steering angles

Z. F. Wang; Wilfried Noell; M. Zickar; N. F. de Rooij; S.P. Lim

This paper describes the development of a new MEMS-based optical mirror, which can perform optical switching (or scanning) function with discrete reflection angles in an outof- plane configuration. The device is fabricated through the Deep Reactive Ion Etching (DRIE) process on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer, followed by wafer dicing and assembly with two metalised glass dies. The MEMS mirror can be tilted under electrostatic force between the opposite electrodes embedded on SOI and glass structures. The most outstanding feature of this MEMS mirror is the discrete and therefore, reliable tilting angles, which generated by its unique mechanical structural design and electrostatic-driven mechanism. In this paper, the concept of the new scanning mirror is presented, followed by the introduction of device design, mechanical simulation, microfabrication process, assembly solution, and some testing results. The potential applications of this new MEMS mirror include optical scanning, optical sensing (or detection), and optical switching.

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Wilfried Noell

University of Neuchâtel

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C. Marxer

University of Neuchâtel

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P.-A. Clerc

University of Neuchâtel

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Severin Waldis

University of Neuchâtel

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N. F. de Rooij

University of Neuchâtel

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N.F. de Rooij

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

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Nico F. de Rooij

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

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Frederic Zamkotsian

Centre national de la recherche scientifique

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