Patent ID: 7463403

Claim:
A driver for use with a Micro-Electromechanical System (MEMS) device, the driver comprising: a high voltage (HV) circuit electrically coupled to a movable actuator of the MEMS to apply a HV pulse (V HV ) thereto; a charge control circuit coupled to a base electrode formed in a substrate underlying the actuator to control a potential (V B ) applied to the base electrode, the charge control circuit including a capacitance divider having a plate capacitor (C P ) defined by the actuator and the base electrode, and a charge storage capacitor (C S ) electrically coupled to the base electrode and in series with the plate capacitor, the charge storage capacitor comprising a variable, voltage controlled capacitor, the capacitance of which is controlled by input signal (V IN ) to the driver; and wherein when C S is small the gain of this capacitive-divider is close to one, the potential on the base electrode follows V HV , and the actuator is not deflected, and when C S is large the gain of the capacitive-divider is close to zero, a large potential drop develops between the actuator and the base electrode, and the actuator is deflected.