SILICON MICROMACHINED SCALED TECHNOLOGY

Silicon micromachining technology will play an important role in the f abrication of high-bandwidth servo controlled microelectromechanical ( mechatronic) components for super-compact disk drives, At the Universi ty of California, Los Angeles, and the California Institute of Technol ogy, for the last three years, we have initiated a number of industry- supported joint research projects to develop the necessary technology building blocks for an integrated drive design of the future. These ef forts include a silicon read/write head microgimbal with integrated el ectrical and mechanical interconnects, which targets the next-generati on 30% form factor pico-sliders, and an electromagnetic piggyback micr oactuator in super-high-track-density applications, both of which util ize state-of-the-art silicon micromachining fabrication techniques.