A MEMS device for an optical switch may be fabricated using a single wafer,
which alleviates the alignment problem associated with a two-piece prior
art design. The device has a movable plate, which may act as a mirror,
supported on a stationary substrate. The plate rotates with respect to the
substrate in response to a voltage applied to a stationary electrode
rigidly connected to the substrate. Additional movable and/or stationary
electrodes may be implemented to enable bidirectional rotation of the
plate. Electrodes may be arranged with respect to each other and/or the
plate to form a fringe-field (FF) actuator, which may alleviate the
snap-down problem associated with the prior art design. Multiple MEMS
devices of the invention may be arrayed in a single integrated structure
to form a linear, radial, or two-dimensional array of mirrors.
