Patent ID: 7158278

Claim:
A two-electrode optical electromechanical shutter comprising: a substrate; a membrane originally resting on four pillars above said substrate; said membrane being composed of the following elements: a first conducting electrode facing said substrate and attached to two pillars of said four pillars through torsion hinges made from the same material as said conducting electrode; said first conducting electrode is placed at the membrane edge in the shape of a stripe parallel to said membrane edge and has the width equal or less than the depth of the air gap existing between said substrate and said membrane, so that said membrane is capable of rotating around said torsion hinges and reaching position normal to the substrate plane; a layer of insulator above said conducting electrode; a top layer on said insulator. a second conducting electrode placed on said substrate underneath said first conducting electrode on said membrane and made as a stripe parallel to said first conducting electrode, so that under application of appropriate potential difference between said first and second conducting electrodes said membrane can move to the position normal to said substrate plane; output conductive lines connected to said first and second conductive electrodes for application of a voltage to the shutter.