MEAM Seminar: “Engineering Microdevices Using Atomic Layer Deposition and Electrowetting”
September 17, 2019 at 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM
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Venue
This talk will cover 1) devices created one atomic layer at a time and 2) electrowetting optical elements. Atomic layer deposition (ALD) and Atomic Layer Etching (ALE) are self-limiting processes that enable accurate atomic-scale thickness control either through deposition or etching of various materials. We are developing novel manufacturing processes that study how ALD materials can be used to create nano-scale transducers. Example applications include thin film coatings for MEMS, materials with tunable properties, nano-scale sensors and actuators. We are also developing liquid optical components based on the electrowetting effect, where the contact angle of a liquid on a dielectric substrate changes due to applied voltage. Optical lenses and prisms can be fabricated as individual components or as arrays and are electrically addressed by transparent electrodes. By applying a voltage between the liquid and the substrate, the droplet changes curvature and the liquid interface acts as a variable focus lens or using multiple drive electrodes as a prism. This phenomenon can be used for wavefront compensation in adaptive optics, communications, beam steering, optical switching and microscopy.

