A novel shock protection method based on MEMS compliant latching stopper

Abstract

This paper reports a novel shock protector on the basis of compliant latching system for the shock resistance enhancement of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices applied in high shock environment. For the first time, MEMS latches have been employed to dissipate energy during impact. Through the machine logic, the MEMS latches have realized different shock protection functions upon relative impact amplitudes to reduce the impact force applied on microstructures. In this work, the compliant latching stopper has been verified to provide multi-fold shock resistance improvement compared with some traditional shock protection structure such as hard stopper and compliant spring stopper.