Patent ID: 7495818

Claim:
A microelectromechanical device array comprising: a device array that includes a plurality of devices arranged at least one of one-dimensionally and two-dimensionally; and a drive circuit, wherein (1) each of the plurality of the devices comprises: a movable portion that is supported to be elastically deformed and that has a movable electrode on at least one part thereof; a fixed electrode that is disposed to face the movable portion and by which the movable portion is moved to one of at least two different positions; and a hold electrode that is provided beside the fixed electrode, wherein a hold voltage is applied to the hold electrode, and the hold voltage generates a first electrostatic force to maintain a positional state of the movable portion, and (2) the drive circuit that displaces the movable portion by a second electrostatic force between the movable electrode and the fixed electrode, wherein the second electrostatic force is generated by writing a displacement signal to one of the movable electrode and the fixed electrode and by applying a control voltage to the other of the movable electrode and the fixed electrode.