Microshutter arrays for near-infrared applications on the James Webb Space Telescope

Li, Mary J.; Bier, A.; Fettig, Rainer K.; Franz, David E.; Hu, Ron; King, Todd; Kutyrev, A.; Lynch, Bernard A.; Moseley, S. H.; Mott, D. B.; Rapchun, David A.; Silverberg, R. F.; Smith, Wayne; Wang, L.; Zheng, Yun; Zinke, C.

doi:10.1117/12.476285

Cited by 8 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…Compared to 8,192 shutters in a 64x128 array, the pixel number increased about 8.2 times. One of 175x384 arrays that we have fabricated is shown in Figure 10, as a comparison to a 64x128 array in dimensions.…”

Section: Development Of 175x384 Microshutter Arraysmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Thermal stresses from the mismatch of thermal expansion coefficients between metal films and silicon nitride, residual stresses from various depositions, as well as related tests were discussed in previous papers 8,10 . And this topic will be further discussed in future publications.…”

Section: Shutter Array Characterization and Testingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The shutters are then released from the silicon substrate by removing the sacrificial oxide layer underneath the shutters. The fabrication of each component was described in detail in previous papers 7,8 . New developments involve the light shields and the back-electrodes.…”

Section: Shutter Array Fabrication Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The original design of microshutter arrays was in the format of 128x128 with a pixel size of 100x100 m. The development aspects of these shutter arrays were presented in previous publications 7,8,10 , covering the technical requirements, the fabrication development of 128x128 shutter arrays, the 1-D and 2-D addressing mechanisms, as well as the mechanical and optical testing. The work presented in this paper is primarily on the development of the 128 x 64 microshutter arrays with a pixel size of 100 x 200 m. These arrays were developed for fabrication improvements, the functional testing and the reliability testing.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Microshutter array development for the James Webb space telescope

Acuna

Amatucci

et al. 2005

SPIE Proceedings

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Micro Electromechanical System (MEMS) microshutter arrays are being developed at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center for use as a field selector of the Near Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The microshutter arrays are designed for the spontaneous selection of a large number of objects in the sky and the transmission of light to the NIRSpec detector with high contrast. The JWST environment requires cryogenic operation at 35K. Microshutter arrays are fabricated out of silicon-on-insulator (SOI) silicon wafers. Arrays are closepacked silicon nitride membranes with a pixel size of 100x200 m. Individual shutters are patterned with a torsion flexure permitting shutters to open 90 degrees with a minimized mechanical stress concentration. Light shields are processed for blocking light from gaps between shutters and frames. The mechanical shutter arrays are fabricated using MEMS technologies. The processing includes multi-layer metal depositions, the patterning of magnetic stripes and shutter electrodes, a reactive ion etching (RIE) to form shutters out of the nitride membrane, an anisotropic back-etch for wafer thinning, followed by a deep RIE (DRIE) back-etch to form mechanical supporting grids and release shutters from the silicon substrate. An additional metal deposition is used to form back electrodes. Shutters are actuated by a magnetic force and latched using an electrostatic force. Optical tests, addressing tests, and life tests are conducted to evaluate the performance and the reliability of microshutter arrays.

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Section: Development Of 175x384 Microshutter Arraysmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Shutter Array Characterization and Testingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Shutter Array Fabrication Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Microshutter array development for the James Webb space telescope

Acuna

Amatucci

et al. 2005

SPIE Proceedings

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“…Materials selection for the MSA design was based upon a series of previously reported micromechanical tests and numerical analysis [6,7]. The 128 × 64 MSA die are fabricated from silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers 8 . The SOI wafer consists of a 400 µm silicon handling layer, a 1 µm buried silicon dioxide (oxide) layer, and a 100 µm silicon device layer.…”

Section: Microshutter Array Fabricationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cryogenic characterization and testing of magnetically-actuated microshutter arrays for the James Webb Space Telescope

King

Kletetschka

Jah

et al. 2005

J. Micromech. Microeng.

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Two-dimensional MEMS microshutter arrays (MSA) have been fabricated at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to enable cryogenic (-35 K) spectrographic astronomy measurements in the nearinfrared region. Functioning as a focal plane object selection device, the MSA is a 2-D programmable aperture mask with fine resolution, high efficiency and high contrast. The MSA are closepacked silicon nitride shutters (cell size of 100 x 200 pm) patterned with a torsion flexure to allow opening to 90 degrees. A layer of magnetic material is deposited onto each shutter to permit magnetic actuation. Two electrodes are deposited, one onto each siiuiier and another onio the support snucmre side-waii, permitting electrostatic latching and 2-D addressing. New techniques were developed to test MSA under mission-similar conditions (8 K 5 T < 300K). The "magnetic rotisserie" has proven to be an excellent tool for rapid characterization of MSA. Tests conducted with the magnetic rotisserie method include accelerated cryogenic lifetesting of unpackaged 128 x 64 MSA and parallel measurement of the magneto-mechanical stiffness of shutters in "pathfinder" test samples containing multiple MSA designs. Lifetest results indicate a logarithmic failure rate out to -10' shutter actuations. These results have increased our understanding of failure mechanisms and provide a means to predict the overall reliability of MSA devices.

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A cryogenic measurement setup for microelectromechanical systems used in space applications

Chuang

Luger

Ghodssi

et al. 2005

Review of Scientific Instruments

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We present a cryogenic measurement setup installed inside a focused-ion-beam ͑FIB͒ system to characterize and microrepair microelectromechanical systems ͑MEMS͒ for space applications. The setup allows testing of MEMS devices under vacuum condition of 10 −6 Torr at variable temperatures ranging from 298 to 20 K. In the experiment, a lead-zirconate-titanate translator powered by a function generator and a dc voltage is utilized as an actuator, and a thin-film thermo-resistor fabricated with test devices is used as an integrated temperature sensor. Additionally, a motorized x-y-z stage is installed to achieve highly accurate positioning function. Resonant techniques and bending tests based on the designed setup are developed to measure the mechanical properties of silicon nitride thin films at cryogenic temperatures. Combined with the functions of the FIB system, this setup also demonstrates the capability to microrepair microshutter arrays, programmable field selectors in the NASA James Webb Space Telescopes. The presented test setup exhibits its feasibility to test MEMS devices needed for the space applications and can be extended to other cryogenic applications.

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Microshutter arrays for near-infrared applications on the James Webb Space Telescope

Cited by 8 publications

References 0 publications

Microshutter array development for the James Webb space telescope

Microshutter array development for the James Webb space telescope

Cryogenic characterization and testing of magnetically-actuated microshutter arrays for the James Webb Space Telescope

A cryogenic measurement setup for microelectromechanical systems used in space applications

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