Patent ID: 7476948

Claim:
A microminiature moving device comprising: stationary parts formed of a single-crystal silicon layer of a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer which comprises a single-crystal silicon substrate, an insulating layer disposed on a surface of the single-crystal silicon substrate, and the single-crystal silicon layer disposed on a surface of the insulating layer and fixed to stationary part fixing areas of the surface of said single-crystal silicon substrate by the insulating layer sandwiched therebetween, so that those surface areas except the stationary part fixing areas of the surface of the single-crystal silicon substrate are exposed; moveable elements formed of the single-crystal silicon layer of the silicon-on-insulator wafer having at least one end connected to a stationary part so as to be moveable in parallel to the surface of the single-crystal silicon substrate; and depressions formed in all the exposed surface areas of the surface of the single-crystal silicon substrate; and placement guides formed of projections of said single-crystal silicon substrate in some of said depressions so as to guide placement of device parts, wherein the depressions have a depth greater than the insulating layer thickness: said moveable elements are disposed above said depressions; the stationary parts have edges overhanging the depressions; the insulating layer sandwiched between the stationary parts and the single-crystal silicon substrate has edges that are decreased from the edges of the stationary parts and from edges of the depressions; and the projections have un-etched surface regions of the single-crystal silicon substrate at their top ends.