Due to the small component sizes in modern microdevices, surface forces can create undesirable adhesion between microstructures, which is referred to as stiction. The current study uses a 100 ns, 1064 nm, Nd:YAG laser to repair polycrystalline silicon microcantilevers stuck to the underlying substrate. The results show that a Nd:YAG, 1064 nm laser is capable of repairing failed microstructures with yields exceeding those reported in earlier studies. Yields of 100 percent for cantilevers up to 1 mm in length were demonstrated for several laser operating conditions. The yields increase strongly with increased laser fluence and increase slightly with longer exposure times.

Issue Section:
Technical Notes
Keywords:
adhesion, micromechanical devices, laser beam applications, high-speed optical techniques, maintenance engineering, stiction, Experimental, Laser, Microscale, Microstructures, Surface Adhesion
Topics:
Adhesion, Lasers, Maintenance, Stiction, Fluence (Radiation measurement), Microcantilevers, Microelectromechanical systems, Nd-YAG lasers
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