Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) include sensors and actuators that are

fabricated with processes similar to those used in mainstream IC production.

Automotive, biomedical, aerospace, and robotic MEMS devices can be produced
with combinations of bulk and surface micromachining.

The second half of the 20th century has seen information technology develop at an
unprecedented rate. Beginning with the invention of the transistor in 1947,
information technology has dramatically changed the manner in which modern
society works and plays. Transistors led the way to ICs in the 1960s, and ICs
enabled the development of virtually all commercial and consumer electronics
products that are on the market today -- including personal computers, cellular
telephones, CD players, and home video games. The past 50 years can be
characterized by the ability to move electronic information from one place to
another, with continuous improvements in efficiency, reliability, and costs.

A similar revolution in information technology will occur in the first half of the 21st
century, but the information conveyed will not be merely electronic. MEMS are the
core technologies enabling the development of mechanical chemical, or biological
"smart systems."

At the heart of this revolution are two classes of instruments: sensors and
actuators. Sensors are simply transducers that convert energy from one form to
another (e.g., mechanical to electrical), and provide for passive measurement or
monitoring. Actuators allow sensors to interact actively with the world. The ability to
integrate sensors and actuators into efficient, reliable, and economic systems is
fueling MEMS research in the US, Europe, and Japan.

In very large scale integration (VLSI) processing, photo-lithographic techniques

control the patterning of thin films and the deposition of dopants used to make
transistor gates and metal contacts. MEMS processing uses these same
techniques to create structural components that are essentially
sub-millimeter-sized machine parts. These parts usually require post-fabrication
processing or assembly in order to become workable devices.

MEMS technology can generally be categorized into two groups: bulk and surface
micromachining. These categories reflect not only different fabrication processes,
but different post-fabrication techniques for finishing the mechanical subsystem.
This article describes a handful of micromachined devices that are available, as
well as some future prospects at the research stage.

Bulk and surface processing

Bulk micromachining, one of the two major categories of MEMS processing,

involves etching away selected portions of the substrate much like a sculptor in
marble will start with a solid block and remove material until a final shape is
created. Bulk micromachining typically etches away most of a silicon chip, with the
remaining single-crystal silicon as the final structure.
The two most common bulk etchants are wet-based potassium-hydroxide (KOH)
and ethylene-diamine-pyrocatehol (EDP). Both etchants are anisotropic and thus
remove material at different rates along different crystal planes to produce
characteristic pyramidal pits and sloped sidewalls. KOH etching is incompatible
with integrated active electronic devices "on-chip," since both potassium and
hydroxyl ions contaminate the dielectric oxides that prevent conducting layers from
shorting.
In surface micromachining, structures are built on top of the wafer using thin films
deposited through various standard methods familiar to IC fabrication.
Unfortunately, the standard processes used to create electronic devices are not
optimal for the creation of moving parts, so mechanical and electrical integration is
more difficult than in bulk micromachining.
For example, polysilicon-surface-micromachining processes typically use
sacrificial oxide spacer layers that are etched away to render free polysilicon
structures. This process flow is incompatible with standard IC processes that use
oxides to isolate conductors. To create a complete electromechanical system, a
hybrid arrangement of two separate processes is required, one for electronics and
one for mechanical components.
One compromise uses a standard CMOS process to fabricate electrical and
mechanical parts, with an EDP bulk-machining process to remove portions of the
substrate. The structures on top of the substrate are not affected by the bulk etch,
provided they are sufficiently masked from the etchant. The oxide that separates
and protects the electronics can be used to create beams and membranes over
"pits" in the substrate, and these structures are free to move after release. This
hybrid process can create many types of sensors that can be integrated with
on-chip electronics for complete MEMS devices.
Trade-offs between device function and manufacturing capability blur the division
between MEMS device design and process development. Novel structures open
the door to new applications and show that the advantages of MEMS are inherent
in the approach and not unique to any specific process. However, any nonstandard
IC process has all the electronic integration problems associated with surface
micromachining.

Current commercial MEMS

The accelerometer market is perhaps the most dramatic example of a business

changed by micromachining. Many companies first venture into micromachining
with accelerometers because there is a large market for small, cheap
accelerometers in automotive air bag systems.
A single, low-cost accelerometer can replace a network of crash sensors joined
with an expensive wire harness. Design and fabrication approaches differ among
companies: the Analog Devices series is surface micromachined in tensile
polysilicon, the EG&G IC Sensors line is bulk micromachined out of multiple
stacked wafers (Fig. 1), and Motorola's accelerometers are
surface-micromachined polysilicon with a bulk-micromachined cap.
Whatever fabrication approach is used, the goal is a small and inexpensive sensor
that provides the desired functionality. Companies pursue micromachined
accelerometers not because they are micromachined, but because they provide
the desired function at a competitive cost. Siemens continues to build
nonmicro-machined accelerometers by applying advanced manufacturing
techniques to produce a cheap, reliable sensor with only six parts, but the market
continues to shift toward micromachined solutions to reduce cost and size.
The pressure sensor industry has been largely dominated by bulk-micromachined
silicon sensors for many years (Fig. 2), representing the largest MEMS product
market in terms of units sold/year. While the initial drivers for development were
cost and size, final devices demonstrate additional benefits. When prices for
micromechanical medical blood pressure sensors dropped sufficiently, replacing
the sensor became cheaper than maintaining it. These devices are now used
disposably, increasing both sales and utility. Micromachined pressure sensors are
also common in automotive applications. Although micromechanical valves are
available, they do not yet have the pressure tolerance and low leak rates that many
applications require.
Atomic force and scanning tunneling microscopy (AFM and STM, respectively) tips
are almost exclusively micromachined. The suspension material is typically silicon
nitride, but tip fabrication techniques and materials vary widely. Micromachining is
the only practical way to achieve the superlatively sharp tips (Fig. 3) and incredibly
weak suspensions required for AFMs.
Micromachining can enable new technology by providing new solutions to existing
problems or allowing for improvements to an existing idea. For example, Texas
Instruments has a micro-machining process for making large arrays of digitally
controlled mirrors on a single silicon chip. Imaging applications of these mirror
arrays include projection displays, rear projection televisions, and 600 dpi color
printers. This unique micromachined device represents new competition in the
more than $10 billion/ year display market.

MEMS devices in R&D

Optics. MEMS technology is hotly researched for other optical applications, with
the possibility of producing low-cost, low-power, wireless devices. Many optical
MEMS structures can be surface micromachined, with micro-hinged polysilicon
plates as integral structural elements (Fig. 4). The hinges are defined by a
first-layer polysilicon pin and a second-layer polysilicon staple separated by silicon
dioxide sacrificial layers (that are eventually etched away in hydrofluoric acid) [1].
One proposed surface-micromachined optical device that relies on micro-hinges is
the comer cube reflector [2]. When hinged polysilicon plates are rotated into
orthogonal positions, a laser beam is back-reflected; when a base plate is rotated,
a laser beam is not back-reflected. This difference can be used to encode a binary
optical data stream.
Miniature Fresnel lenses can be made by strategically patterning rotated
polysilicon plates (Fig. 5) [3]. Rotated side plates are used to hold the lens
vertically. The lens can be incorporated with laser components to form complete
optical benches on a single silicon chip. Similar methods can be used to make
vertical diffraction gratings and complete lens arrays with predetermined
alignments [4]. With batch-fabrication economies of scale, each device can be
relatively inexpensive.
Biomedical. MEMS are also being used in biomedical applications. A MEMS
device to measure the contractile force of individual heart cells is under
development. A single living heart cell is glued between two movable polysilicon
clamps (Fig. 6) [5]. When the cell contracts, it pulls the clamps inward and the
support beams are deflected. Using the known spring constant in the beams and
the visually measured deflection, the amount of force can be estimated.
Since the mass of this system is so small compared to nonmicromachined systems
currently used, a higher bandwidth and, thus, higher fidelity measurements on the
cellular level may be attainable. Typical measurements are 8-10 microNewtons for
rat cardiac cells tested, a force equal to the weight of 10 crystals of ordinary table
salt. CMOS electronics can be integrated with the damps to produce a submersible
heart-cell-force transducer system.
Tiny, sharp probes lined with electrodes and on-board signal processing
electronics can measure electrical signals in the brain [6]. In the future, tiny MEMS
hands that can grip and move biological tissue and/or cells may be used in
minimally invasive microsurgery, reducing patient discomfort and healing time.
Chemical analysis may be transformed by developments in micromachining.
Miniaturized chemical analysis systems may soon replace tabletop mass
spectrometers, gas chromatographs, and electrophoretic separation systems. The
benefits of miniaturization include the ability to work with minute chemical samples,
fast response time of the instruments, and a dramatic overall reduction in
instrument volume (Fig. 7).
For example, electrophoresis is the procedure of separating various ionic species
according to their response to an applied electric field. Larger ions move more
slowly through a solution than smaller ions, producing separation according to their
size. Several groups around the world have proven this to be an effective method
of separation using anisotropically etched channels in silicon wafers as the
separation medium. When driven by micro-machined pumps, such a system
becomes a fully independent instrument capable of introducing, separating, and
detecting the chemical samples. The small scale of these instruments results in
separation times of several seconds for sample sizes of interest.
Aerospace. Designers of spacecraft and satellites take advantage of the small,
low-power, and high-reliability components that can be realized using MEMS
technology. Traditional spacecraft designs are single crafts with payloads in the
hundreds of kilograms. However, micromachining makes possible the
development of microsatellites with payloads of only a few kilograms. Work on
microsatellites is currently underway at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, The Aerospace
Corporation, and companies in Germany.
Regardless of their size, these proposed miniature spacecraft require the same
basic functions as their full-sized counterparts. Guidance, navigation, and attitude
control are accomplished through sensors such as accelerometers and
gyroscopes, coupled to actuators and/or a nonmicromachined propulsion system.
Accelerometers for these applications use the same operating principles as those
for automotive applications.
Angular position is typically determined by sensors that measure the rotational
velocity of a body, and then integrate this signal over time to determine position. A
common angular-rate sensor design utilizes the Coriolis effect to couple the driven
vibrations of tuning fork tines into a secondary vibration whose amplitude is
proportional to the rate of rotation. A variety of designs and fabrication techniques
have been demonstrated for both the oscillating masses and the actuator which
drives them, using surface and bulk micromachining, electroforming, and
piezoelectric materials. Such sensors must have minimal drift over long time
periods for navigation purposes, or high fidelity over short periods for attitude
control.
Robots. The crossover of microfabrication techniques from ICs to mechanical
components has brought the idea of microrobots out of the realm of speculation
and into the laboratory. Mechanical links and couplings, joints, and motors (for
drive and control) are the building blocks of articulate microstructures developed at
the University of California, Los Angeles [7]. All components were demonstrated in
surface micromachining, with the mechanical elements assembled after fabrication
into fully 3-D structures. Micromachined hinges (described earlier in this article) are
the key structures that allow for such assembly.
Depending on the hinge design, two plates can either be rigidly joined or
connected to allow for rotation of one relative to the other. Three plates can be
folded into a hollow triangular beam and kept in place through snap locks to make
a mechanical link. Mechanical links can then be joined through a series of hinges
that allow one link to rotate with respect to the next, producing a functional robotic
arm (Fig. 8). Articulation of these arms is achieved by coupling the arms to drive
and control motors fabricated in the same-surface micromachined process.

Conclusion

As the systems we use in our lives become more complex and more intelligent, the
number of sensors employed in those systems will have to multiply. As the number
of sensors goes up, the size and the cost will have to go down in order to maintain
economical and usable systems. MEMS are the inevitable and necessary next
step in the evolution of complex high-tech systems.
Within a short time, microsensors and micro-actuators will be part of even the most
simple electronic devices --enhancing their ability to perform their functions
intelligently. Arrays of invisible microsensors will be in rooms and automobiles for
control of the environment. MEMS sensors will monitor the many systems in
automobiles to provide optimal functioning.
Miniature spacecraft will take over many of the tasks now performed by large and
very costly manned missions. Nonintrusive microtools will be used by surgeons for
procedures such as the retrieval of tumor samples for analysis. MEMS devices will
be used in research to probe the secrets of cells and microorganisms on their own
scale. Opto-electronics will benefit from the use of MEMS devices to provide
low-power communication.
If recent trends continue, it will be very difficult to define the MEMS field clearly in
20 years; instead, a wide variety of micro-machined devices and components will
be embedded in other nonmicromachined systems. Automobile air bag triggers
and blood pressure sensors are current examples of embedded MEMS.
Researchers in this rapidly growing field share an excitement that comes from
exploring a new frontier.
DIAGRAM: Figure 1. Bulk-micromachined accelerometer with sensitivity in the
vertical direction. Acceleration of the center mass results in support beam
deflection, which produces a strain in diffused piezoresistive traces in the beams.
Acceleration thus results in a detectable change in resistance. (Courtesy of EG&G
IC Sensors)
DIAGRAM: Figure 2. Bulk-micromachined sensor capable of measuring differential
pressure across the thin silicon membrane due to strain in piezoresistive traces.
Other pressure sensor designs detect the change in capacitance between the
membrane and a second parallel plate. (Courtesy of EG&G IC Sensors)
PHOTO (BLACK & WHITE): Figure 3. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) image
of a silicon nitride beam for AFM. The spring constant of the arm is extremely small
in the vertical direction, resulting in high sensitivity. (Courtesy of Park Scientific
Instruments)
PHOTO (BLACK & WHITE): Figure 4. a) Process flow for micro-hinge fabrication,
and b) SEM image of a complete micro-hinge. (Courtesy of K.S.J. Pister)
PHOTO (BLACK & WHITE): Figure 5. SEM of a micro-Fresnel lens coupled to a
diode laser. Rotated guide plates hold an edge-emitting laser next to the lens.
Since the guide plates can be defined to within 1 mum, the structure is essentially
self-aligned. (Courtesy of M.C. Wu)
PHOTO (BLACK & WHITE): Figure 6. SEM of one of two required MEMS
polysilicon clamps used to measure contractile force in living heart cells.
Micro-hinges rotate first, and then spring locks hold the clamps vertically.
PHOTO (BLACK & WHITE): Figure 7. SEM of micromachined channels, reagent
reservoirs (circular), and testing chambers (hexagonal) on a "lab-chip."
Electrokinetic forces move picoliters of liquids to perform separations and
analyses. (Courtesy of Caliper Technologies)
PHOTO (BLACK & WHITE): Figure 8. SEM of a microrobotic arm with 3 degrees
freedom of motion. The triangular beams are made rigid through snap locks, which
resemble arrowheads passed though narrow slots. (Courtesy of R. Yeh)

References

1. K.S.J. Pister, M.W. Judy, S.R. Burgett, R.S. Fearing, "Microfabricated Hinges,"
Sensors and Actuators A, Vol. 33, pp. 249-256, 1992.
2. D.S. Gunawan, L.Y. Lin, K.S.J. Pister, "Micromachined Corner Cube Reflectors
as a Communication Link," Sensors and Actuators A, Vol. 46-47, pp. 580-583,
1995.
3. L.Y. Lin, S.S. Lee, K.S.J. Pister, M.C. Wu, "Micro-Machined Three-Dimensional
Micro-Optics for Integrated Free-Space Optical System," IEEE Photonics
Technology Letters, Vol. 6, No. 12, pp. 1445-1447, December 1994.
4. M.C. Wu, S.S. Lee, L.Y. Lin, K.S.J. Pister, "Micromachined Micro-Optical Bench
for Free-Space Integrated Optics," Government Microcircuit Application
Conference (GOMAC), San Diego, CA, pp. 203-206, Nov. 8-10, 1994.
5. G. Lin, K.S.J. Pister, K.P. Roos, "Heart Cell Contractions Measured Using a
Micromachined Polysilicon Force Transducer," Proc. of the SPIE 1995 Symposium
on Micromaching and Microfabrication, Vol. 2642, pp. 130-137, Austin, TX, Oct.
23-24, 1995.
6. K. Najafi, "Solid-State Microsensors for Cortical Nerve Recordings," IEEE
Engineering in Medicine and Biology, Vol. 13, No. 3, pp. 375-387, June/July 1994.
7. R. Yeh, K.S.J. Pister, "Measurement of Static Friction in Mechanical Couplings
of Articulated Microrobots," Proc. of the SPIE 1995 Symposium on Micromachining
and Microfabrication, Vol. 2642, pp. 40-50, Austin, TX, Oct. 23-24, 1995.
~~~~~~~~
By Michael Pottenger, Beverley Eyre, Ezekiel Kruglick, Gisela Lin University of
California, Los Angeles, California
MICHAEL POTTENGER received his BS degree from the California Institute of
Technology in 1991, and his MS degree from the University of Southern California
in 1995, both in mechanical engineering. He is currently a PhD candidate in the
electrical engineering department at the University of California, Los Angeles
(UCLA), where his research is focused on micromachined inertial sensors. UCLA
Electrical Engineering Dept., Engineering IV 56-125B, 420 Westwood Plaza, Los
Angeles, CA 90095-1594; ph 310/206-3995, fax 310/825-7928, e-mail
mikep@janet.ucla.edu, www.janet.ucla.edu/~mikep
BEVERLEY EYRE received his BS degree in electrical engineering from UCLA in
1994, and is currently pursuing his MS and PhD degrees at UCLA. His research
interests are in magnetometry from a MEMS perspective and microrobotics
EZEKIEL KRUGLICK received his BS degree in electrical engineering in 1995, and
his MS degree in 1996, both from UCLA. He is in the PhD program at the
University of California, Berkeley. Research interests include microrobotics,
electron tunnel sensors, integrated CMOS microstructures, and distributed sensor
networks
GISELA LIN received her BS degree in electrical engineering and material science
engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1990, and her MS
degree in electrical engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara, in
1992. She expects to receive her PhD degree in electrical engineering from UCLA
this year. Her research interests are in the biomedical applications of MEMS
sensors.

Copyright of Solid State Technology is the property of Penn Well Publishing Co.
and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a
listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users
may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
Source: Solid State Technology, Sep97, Vol. 40 Issue 9, p89, 5p, 10 diagrams,
6bw.
Item Number: 9709202633