Electronic devices including micromechanical switches

摘要

A method of manufacturing an electronic device comprising an integrated circuit device having micromechanical switches (10) and thin film circuit components (20) provided on a common substrate (2). The micromechanical switches (10) have contact beams (12) extending over a respective sacrificial region. Component layers (5) for forming the thin film circuit components are used as the sacrificial region in the area of the substrate allocated to the micromechanical switches. This enables various layers to be shared between the switches and the components. A supplementary support layer (50) may be provided for the contact beams to protect them against damage during subsequent processing and fabrication stages. A portion of this support layer can be left attached to the beam in the completed device for increased strength.