Assembly and Characterization of Buckled Cantilever Platforms for Thermal Isolation in a Polymer Micromachining Process

We report a unique assembly technique based on a buckled cantilever to lift MEMS devices several hundred mum off a substrate for a high degree of thermal isolation. These structures can be assembled using a single push, making fabrication simple and reliable. A wirebonder tip has been used for assembly to prove that these structures can be assembled without requiring extra equipment or introducing significant extra time into the fabrication process. The structures presented here show a working proof-of-concept device fabricated in a polymer MEMS technology. The basic design can be modified to work with nearly any structural material.