Patent ID: 6897991

Claim:
A digital micromirror device, comprising: a substrate layer, said substrate layer comprised of a pixel memory array; an oxide isolation layer on said memory array; a metal-3 layer on said oxide layer, said metal-3 layer comprised of an array of positive and negative address electrodes and a beam landing pad plane, said positive and negative address electrodes being connected to respective and outputs of said memory pixels through via2 paths extending through said oxide layer; a rotating beam suspended in space above said metal-3 layer by means of two torsion hinges extending from opposite sides of said rotating beam attached to the top end of beam posts, the lower end of said beam posts being attached at opposite corners of said metal-3 landing plane, said suspension space being determined by the height of said beam posts, said beam being addressed by means of said address electrodes to rotate in positive or negative direction until the beam tips contact said landing pads on said metal-3 layer, the minimum gap between said address electrode in the area around said via2 and a tilted beam in the area above said via2 being at least 20% of said suspension space.