No CrossRef data available.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 May 2011
An integrated optical method for measuring deformation of micro-mechanical systems with better than sub-micron resolutions is detailed. Both a confocal laser scanning microscope and a photon tunneling microscope were integrated into a single microscopy system due to their complimentary capabilities for examining sub-micrometer deformations. A halogen lamp and laser were adopted as the two light sources for the measurements. Since topographic information of samples up to a 15μm by 15μm area can be measured, a three-dimensional displacement field of the sample was extracted by comparing topographies of the same specimen area before and after deformation. The bending and twisting deformation of a micro-mirror driven by the electrostatic force was measured to demonstrate the capability of this newly developed instrument. The experimental data obtained agrees reasonably well with the theoretical results calculated by adopting an analytical solution and a finite element method. The small discrepancy in the result can be traced to the surface roughness effect, which is often non-negligible in micro-systems.