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To develop x-ray mirrors for micropore optics, smooth silicon (111) sidewalls obtained after anisotropic wet etching of a silicon (110) wafer were studied. A sample device with 19 microm wide (111) sidewalls was fabricated using a 220 microm thick silicon (110) wafer and potassium hydroxide solution. For what we believe to be the first time, x-ray reflection on the (111) sidewalls was detected in the angular response measurement. Compared to ray-tracing simulations, the surface roughness of the sidewalls was estimated to be 3-5 nm, which is consistent with the atomic force microscope and the surface profiler measurements.

Abstract-A simple and new technique for interlayer electrical interconnection for silicon-on-insulator microelectromechanical systems (SOl-MEMS) micromachining was developed without using additional device layers or patterning processes. A part of the SO! microstructure was shaped into a slender cantilever and intentionally brought into contact onto the substrate surface by surface stiction force after sacrificial release. The contact resistance between the stiction bar and the substrate was studied with and without a subsequent metallization process. The stiction bar was found to improve the MEMS design flexibility in allocating electrical components (comb-drive electrodes and interconnection tethers) and mechanical components (suspensions and frame) to the SOI and the substrate layer and to make a high-density complex double-deck structure in a small footprint. As an example of the high-density design, we developed a micro-XYZ stage with the lateral and vertical comb-drive mechanisms and compared the design with the conventional bulk micromachined structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we have successfully developed an integrated micromechanical system for controlling tunneling current. A pair of nanoscale tunneling tips have been integrated with a silicon micromachined electrostatic actuator of high-aspect ratio. The tip sharpness has been observed to be as sharp as commercial tips by scanning over surface of carbon graphite as an atom scale. We have also succeeded to observe the tunneling current in the air and in the vacuum condition (in TEM). [0941] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]