PARC’s StressedMetal™ core technology takes advantage of the stress that occurs in the thin-film deposition process. To create StressedMetal™ structures, extremely thin layers of metal films are sputter-deposited onto a substrate such as glass or silicon with an engineered, built-in stress gradient. PARC has developed techniques to precisely control these imposed stress gradients within the layers of deposited metal.
After patterns are lithographically etched into the thin-film layers, the metal structures are released from the substrate. The metal’s inherent stress and subsequent release cause it to lift or curl into a designed radius of curvature, forming three-dimensional springs, or “claws."
