Patent ID: 7573695

Claim:
A voltage controlled Micro-Electromechanical System (MEMS) device comprising: a cavity electrode formed on a surface of a substrate and coupled to a common backplane supply voltage (VssC) pad; a number of movable actuators each with an actuator electrode suspended over the cavity electrode and separated therefrom; a drive circuit through which the actuator electrodes of the number of movable actuators are coupled to a high voltage power supply (HVPS) to apply an electrostatic force between the cavity electrode and the actuator electrodes to move the number of movable actuators relative to the substrate; and a number of first diodes coupled between the HVPS and the actuator electrodes, the number of first diodes connected to provide forward-biased paths to transfer a positive charge from the actuator electrodes when the accumulated charge exceeds a predetermined threshold, whereby snapdown of the movable actuators is substantially prevented.