Improvements in or relating to micromechanical devices

摘要

A support pillar 408 for use with a micromechanical device, particularly a digital micromirror device, comprising a pillar material 404 supported by a substrate 400 and covered with a metal layer 406. The support pillar 408 is fabricated by depositing a layer of pillar material on a substrate 400, patterning the pillar layer to define a support pillar 408, and depositing a metal layer 406 over the support pillar 408 enclosing the support pillar. A planar surface even with the top of the pillar may be created by applying a spacer layer 410 over the pillars 408. After applying the spacer layer 410, holes 414 are patterned into the spacer layer to remove any spacer material that is covering the pillars. The spacer layer is then reflowed to fill the holes and lower the surface of the spacer layer such that the surface is coplanar with the tops of the support pillars 408. <IMAGE>