structures with identical thicknesses in an alternative embodiment they may not be coplanar structures moreover the thickness of one or more of them may be different for example the hinge element 406 may have a smaller thickness than the mems component 402 this mems component may have a smaller thickness than the mems component 404 in another alternative embodiment the mems component 402 the mems component 404 and the hinge element 406 may be formed from different materials or from the same material for example they may be formed from semiconductor materials in another alternative embodiment these mems components may be formed from a semiconductor material and the hinge element 406 may be formed from a different material the hinge element 406 converts rotational movement to translational movement more specifically the hinge element 406 is designed and formed such that it converts rotational movement about an axis b b 431 analogous to rotational movement about the axis of stationary support 310 in fig3 a 3c into translational movement in a direction orthogonal to axis 431 and also orthogonal to a shared axis a a 430 along which the mems components 402 404 406 are aligned for example a device not shown may have the mems component 404 fixed for rotation about an axis b b within it movement of this device may elicit a rotational movement in the direction of the arrow 432 about the axis 431 at the end 408 since the mems component 404 is fixed the dimensions and geometry of the hinge element 406 causes a corresponding complementary rotational movement 434 about an axis c c 433 at the end 416 a net effect is translational.