Mass-balanced through-wafer electrostatic x/y-scanner for parallel probe data storage

In this work we describe the design, fabrication and testing of a mass-balanced planar x/y-scanner designed for parallel-probe storage applications (see Fig. 1a). We explore electrostatic actuation as an alternative to electromagnetic actuation. To increase the shock resistance, mass-balancing is used and the scanner is fabricated by deep reactive ion etching through a complete wafer. To move the scan table in both positive and negative x and y directions, four comb drives are used. The comb-drive fingers are tapered to increase the generated force without decreasing the minimum trench width.