Patent ID: 7685709

Claim:
A method of making a spring structure with only a single lithographic operation, the method comprising the operations of: depositing a release layer over a substrate; forming a resist pattern over the release layer by depositing a layer of resist and defining an opening in the resist layer such that the opening exposes a portion of said release layer; depositing a spring material in the opening in the resist layer such that the spring material is disposed over the exposed portion of the release layer, and a perimeter of the spring material forms an interface with an edge of the resist layer that defines the opening; exposing the resist and spring material to one or more etchants such that the etchants penetrate the interface between the edge of the resist layer and the perimeter of the spring material, and etch away a part of the release layer disposed under a release portion of the spring material to allow the release portion of the spring material to curl out of the plane of the substrate.