Passively self-aligned assembly of compact barrel hinges for high-performance, out-of-plane mems actuators

A passively self-aligned, assembly-based process for rapidly creating compact, micro-barrel hinges with unconstrained rotation from SU-8 epoxy is presented. The alignment process takes places in two stages: a coarse alignment stage guided by external dowel pins followed by a fine alignment stage driven by the hinges' features themselves. The assembly of pins into housings circumvents the design rules for minimum gap between features of given...