| US 7,551,287 B2 | ||
| Actuator for micro-electromechanical system fabry-perot filter | ||
| Anis Zribi, Rexford, N.Y. (US); Glenn S. Claydon, Wynantskill, N.Y. (US); David C. Hays, Niskayuna, N.Y. (US); Stacey Kennerly, Niskayuna, N.Y. (US); Long Que, Rexford, N.Y. (US); Shankar Chandrasekaran, Tamil Nadu (India); Shivappa Goravar, Karnataka (India); and Ayan Banerjec, Karnataka (India) | ||
| Assigned to GE Homeland Protection, Inc., Newark, Calif. (US) | ||
| Filed on Aug. 10, 2006, as Appl. No. 11/502,186. | ||
| Application 11/502186 is a continuation in part of application No. 11/447779, filed on Jun. 06, 2006. | ||
| Prior Publication US 2007/0280598 A1, Dec. 06, 2007 | ||
| Int. Cl. G01B 9/02 (2006.01); G01J 3/45 (2006.01); G01N 21/00 (2006.01) | ||
| U.S. Cl. 356—454 [358/519] | 16 Claims |
| 1. A micro-electrical mechanical system apparatus associated with a wafer having two, substantially parallel, planar surfaces,
comprising:
a bi-stable micro-electrical mechanical system actuator structured to: (i) rest in a first latched position and (ii) rest
in a second latched position; and
at least one movable Fabry-Perot filter cavity mirror coupled to the bi-stable actuator, wherein a reflective surface of the
at least one movable Fabry-Perot filter cavity mirror is positioned between, and substantially perpendicular to, the two planar
surfaces of the wafer, the bi-stable actuator being oriented substantially within a plane defined by one of the planar surfaces
of the wafer.
|