Patent ID: 7264179

Claim:
A method for lubricating a MEMS device, comprising the steps of: supplying a lubricant to a first input of a nebulizer drift tube; supplying N 2 carrier gas to a second input of said nebulizer drift tube, said gas being mixed with said lubricant to create a mist of small droplets in said drift tube, said mist further expanding in said drift tube; the drifting of said expanded mist along said drift tube, down through an opening in the bottom of said drift tube, through the small end of an upside down funnel located at the top of a nebulizer passivation chamber; said mist striking the top convex spherical surface of a turbulation baffle, attached to the wall of said funnel at one or more points so as to leave a gap around the majority of the circumference of said baffle, said mist falling around the edge of said baffle; supplying N 2 turbulator gas through a right angle tube extending through the side of said passivation chamber, through a turbulator nozzle on to the bottom concave side of said baffle, thereby creating an outward turbulence across the concave surface of said baffle and mixing with said mist entering said chamber through the gap around said baffle, thereby filling said chamber with a homogeneous cloud of passivant droplets; inserting a MEMS device specimen into the device exchanger at the bottom of a nebulizer passivation chamber; moving and sealing said MEMS device into the exposure aperture of said chamber; said passivant droplets coming in contact with the surfaces of said MEMS device, thereby uniformly lubricating said surfaces to prevent sticking of moving parts.