Patent ID: 7595212

Claim:
A method for forming a switching element, comprising: forming a trench within a planar light circuit; forming a heater within an integrated circuit; forming a trench in the integrated circuit, the trench in the integrated circuit being located over the heater, the trench having sidewalls that extend in a direction away from the heater; forming a heat conductor attached to the integrated circuit above the heater, the heat conductor being located within the trench within the integrated circuit and a portion of the heat conductor being in close proximity to the heater so that heat from the heater is conducted along at least one of the sidewalls so that for a predetermined operating range of the heater, fluid adjacent to the at least one of the sidewalls is kept above an evaporation point for the fluid; and, attaching the integrated circuit to the planar light circuit so that the trench within the planar light circuit aligns with the trench within the integrated circuit to form a chamber.