Adhesive mechanical fastener design for use in microassembly

We present an adhesive mechanical fastener design used to construct three-dimensional micro devices. The fastener design includes adhesive bonding and self-alignment mechanisms. A micro probe that bonded to a robotic micromanipulator is employed to pick up and accurately deposit adhesive to a target location. Self-alignment mechanisms are introduced to increase the positioning accuracy. A curing light is applied to harden the adhesive. The cured adhesive keeps the assembled micropart into its position and provides a strong mechanical joint. By using conductive adhesive, a reliable electrical connection is achievable. The adhesive mechanical fastener only requires simple operations, and could reach reliable connections and high positioning accuracy, which is important to automatic microassembly. To demonstrate the feasibility of this method, many three-dimensional MEMS devices have been assembled, which include a three-dimensional rotary optical switch.