Fabrication of a novel six DOF thermal nanopositioner by using bulk micromachining process

In this paper, a novel microfabrication process of a six DOF thermal compliant nanopositioner is presented. The microfabrication process was based on bulk micromachining process. By using this process some important operational restrictions which are usually created by surface micromachining were removed. Moreover, this novel process does not need SOI wafers and needs only ordinary wafers. Therefore, it makes microfabrication process cheaper than surface micromachining processes where SOI wafer should be used. This method is completely appropriate for microactuators which have 120° degree misalignment. Finally, a primary test by using interferometer method was used to test connection of blades in the nanopositioner.