Deflection Characteristics of a Circular Slit Diaphragm MEMS Device

This paper explores the design, fabrication, and testing of a micromachined silicon spring that uses a circular slit diaphragm and maps the design space to demonstrate large linear deflections with a circular geometry. The circular spring designs are the first of their kind to made from silicon and were inspired by a square “Quasi-Concertina” variant intended for atomic force and molecular mass sensing described by Grech, D., et al.[1]. Unique fabrication and characterization methods for large deflections devices are described. Findings could be used to design and fabricate devices for molecular[1] and biological[2] sensing probes, or for vibration energy harvesters [3], [4] among other applications.