Introduction to MEMS Technology

Dr. S. L. Pinjare
slpinjare@gmail.com

What is MEMS
Why MEMS?
How are MEMS Made
The History of MEMS
Challenges of MEMS
MEMS Applications
MEMS markets
MEMS CAD
MEMS in Action
Summary

Topics

What is MEMS?
Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems
Three MEMS blood pressure
sensors on a head of a pin [Photo
courtesy of Lucas NovaSensor,
Fremont, CA]

MEMS?

MEMS - evolved from the Microelectronics revolution

MEMS or MST?

United States the technology is known as MicroElectroMechanical

Systems - MEMS
In Europe it is called Microsystems Technology MST
In Japan, Micromachines

Working Definition:

What's in a name? ... A rose by any other

name would smell as sweet.
W. Shakespeare in Romeo and Juliet

MEMS?

MEMS is simultaneously a toolbox, a physical product, and a

methodology, all in one:
It is a portfolio of techniques and processes to design and
create miniature systems.
It is a physical product often specialized and unique to a final
applicationone can seldom buy a generic MEMS product
at the neighborhood electronics store.
MEMS is a way of making things,
reports the Microsystems Technology Office of the United
States DARPA [1].
These things merge the functions of sensing and actuation
with computation and communication to locally control
physical parameters at the microscale, yet cause effects at
much grander scales.

MEMS?

A MEMS is a device made from extremely small parts (though a universal

definition is lacking).

MEMS products possess a number of distinctive features.

miniature embedded systems

involving one or many micromachined components or structures.
enable higher level functions,
By themselves they may have limited utility
integrate smaller functions together into one package for greater utility
merging an acceleration sensor with electronic circuits for self
diagnostics).
cost benefits
directly through low unit pricing or indirectly by cutting service and
maintenance costs.

MEMS as a MicroSystem

A microsystem might comprise

the following:
A sensor that inputs
information into the system;
An electronic circuit that
conditions the sensor signal;
An actuator that responds to
the
electrical
signals
generated within the circuit.
Both the sensor and the actuator
could be MEMS devices in their
own right.

MEMS?

A
Micro-Electro-Mechanical
System (MEMS) contains both
electrical
and
mechanical
components with characteristic
sizes ranging from a few
nanometers to millimeters.
MEMS is the integration of

Mechanical Elements,
Sensors,
Actuators, and
Electronics

On a Common Substrate
through the Utilization of
Microfabrication Technology.

MEMS? Microelectronics

The microelectronics act as the

"brain" of the system.
It receives data, processes it, and
makes decisions.
The data received comes from
the microsensors in the MEMS.

MEMS? Microsensors

The microsensors act as the

arms, eyes, nose, etc.
They constantly gather data
from
the
surrounding
environment and pass this
information
on
to
the
microelectronics
for
processing.
These sensors can monitor
mechanical,
thermal,
biological, chemical, optical
and magnetic readings from the
surrounding environment.

MEMS? Microactuators

A micro actuator acts as a switch

or a trigger to activate an external
device.
As the microelectronics is
processing the data received from
the microsensors, it is making
decisions on what to do based on
this data.
Sometimes the decision will
involve activating an external
device.
If this decision is reached, the
microelectronics will tell the
micro actuator to activate this
device.

MEMS? Microstructures (Mechanical)

Due to the increase in

technology for micromachining,
extremely small structures can
be built onto the surface of a
chip.
These tiny structures are called
micro structures and are actually
built right into the silicon of the
MEMS.
Among other things, these
microstructures can be used as
valves to control the flow of a
substance or as very small
filters.

MEMS?

MEMS device and biological

material

Size Comparison

Human Hair 70 micron

MEMS Size

Why MEMS

Why MEMS?

Small devices:
Fast mechanical response:
tend to move or stop more quickly due to low mechanical
inertia.
Ideal for precision movements and also for rapid actuation.
Encounter less thermal distortion and mechanical vibration due
to low mass.
Have higher dimensional stability at high temperature due to low
thermal expansion.
Are particularly suited for biomedical and aerospace
applications being minute in size.

 less space

Why MEMS?

This allows the packaging of more functional

components in a single device/system.

less material

Means low cost

transportation.

of

production

and

Low power budget, faster device,

increased selectivity and sensitivity,
wider dynamic range.
minimal invasive (e.g., microfabricated
needles)
Potential to integrate with circuits
The ability to fabricate array of devices
Batch fabrication

MEMS-Fabrication

Substrates
Planar substrates:
Single-crystal silicon,
Single-crystal quartz,
glass, and
fused (amorphous) quartz.
gallium arsenide,
optoelectronic devices can be fabricated with this
material.
Wafer Sizes:
300 mm (12") diameter are now standard.
450 mm (18") diameter wafers in future,

Substrates
Pressure on MEMS fabricators to shift to increasing wafer sizes
to maintain compatibility with production equipment.
MEMS fabrication obeys different economics than standard
microelectronics.
25-wafer runs of 100 mm (4") wafers to supply a full year's
production of a single product.
less pressure to go to larger wafer sizes.

Silicon as a Structural material

Characteristics of Silicon

Silicon

Silicon is the most important material

driving the electronic industry.
It is being used for its electrical properties.
Now it is being used in new commercial
product not for its electronic properties but
rather because of its mechanical
properties.
Silicon has already revolutionalized the
way we think about electronics. The
microprocessor has permeated our life.
Now this versatile material is changing
our perception of miniaturized mechanical
devices and components.

Why Silicon?

Silicon microfabrication is the obvious

Choice for microcomponents and devices as:

It is abundantly available and inexpensive.

It can be produced and processed controllably to high purity and perfection.
Silicon is being used in MEMS because it has excellent mechanical
properties and also the microfabrication technology is well established.
Silicon processing is based on thin deposited films which are highly
amenable to miniaturization.
Photolithography techniques are used to define the device shapes and
patterns. It is a very precise technique and is amenable to miniaturization.
Silicon based devices and mechanical components can also be batch
produced like silicon integrated microcircuits. Thus making them
commercially viable.

More on Silicon

Single crystal Silicon is a very

Brittle
material,
yielding
catastrophically rather than
deforming plastically.
However it is not as fragile as
is often believed.
A 100 micron thin wafer of
silicon can be bent around a
one inch diameter cylinder.
The stress concentration leads
to fracture.
All steps should be taken to avoid
stress concentration.

More on Silicon.

Silicon wafers:
Thickness: Usually 250-500 micron,
Diameter: could be anywhere from 25 mm to 300 mm.
Tendency to cleave along certain crystallographic direction.
If there are any defects Bulk, Edge or Surface along the cleavage
planes, the wafer can easily break due to stress concentration
around defects.
The wafers chip due to the defects on the edge of the wafers.
The high temperature processing of the wafer and multiple thin
film deposition can cause internal stresses due to thermal
expansion mismatch.

Mechanical Properties of Silicon Compared

Si*

SiO2

Si3N4*
SiC*

Yield
Strength
[109N/m2]

8.4
14
21

Knoop
Hardness
[kg/mm2]

850
820

3,486
2,480

Young's
Modulus
[1011N/m2]

Density
[gr/cm2]

Thermal
Conductivity
[W/cmoC]

Thermal
Expansion
[10-6/oC]

0.73

2.5

0.01

0.55

1.9

3.85
7

2.3
3.1
3.2

1.57
0.19
3.5

2.33
0.8
3.3

TiC*

20

2,470

4.97

4.9

3.3

6.4

Aluminium

0.17

130

0.7

2.7

2.36

25

Iron*

12.6

400

1.96

7.8

0.8

12

Wolfram

485

4.1

1.78

4.5

275

3.43

19.
3
7.9

Diamond*
Al2O3*

Steel

Stainless-Steel
Molybdenum

53

15.4

4.2
2.1
2.1

7,000
2,100

1,500
660

10.35
5.3

2.1
2

3.5
4

7.9

10.
3

20

0.5

0.97
0.32

1.38

5.4

12

17.3
5

Silicon Substrate(+)

It is an excellent choice for a substrate for mechanical

sensors, due to its Intrinsic mechanical stability and
feasibility of integrating electronics. (+)
Si is often preferred for thin films. It is very flat substrate
and a lot of equipment has been built to accommodate Si
wafers. (+)
Si is more expensive than other substrates per unit area
but the cost is offset by the small size of the features. (+)

Silicon Substrate(-)

Si as a substrate sometimes makes packaging more

difficult.(-)
For chemical sensors, Si is often just a substrate and
advantages are less clear. (-)
When the device is large or production volume is low, Si
again is not too good a choice.(-)
If there is no need for integrating electronics then Si
becomes less interesting. (-)

Single Crystal Silicon

Crystal Structure

Crystals are characterized by a unit cell which repeats in the

x, y, z directions.
Planes and directions are defined using an x, y, z coordinate
system.
[111] direction is defined by a vector having components of
1 unit in x, y and z.
Planes are defined by Miller indices - reciprocals of the
intercepts of the plane with the x, y and z axes.

Single Crystal-Unit Cell

Crystal Structure

Silicon has the basic

diamond crystal structure
two merged FCC cells offset
by a/4 in x, y and z.
100 wafers are used in
manufacturing
As atomic densities are
different on 100 and 111
planes their properties also Defect Density: 111 has higher
electrical defects on the
differ.
surface due to presence of
Etch rates: 100 etches faster
dangling bonds.
than 111
Dopant diffusion coefficient
Oxidation: 111 oxidizes
and other bulk properties also
faster than 100
depend on orientations.

Angle between planes

[abc] in a cubic crystal is just a direction vector

(abc) is any plane perpendicular to the [abc] vector
()/[] indicate a specific plane/direction
{}/<> indicate equivalent planes/direction
Angles between directions can be determined by scalar
product: the angle between [abc] and [xyz] is given by
ax+by+cz = |(a,b,c)|*|(x,y,z)|*cos(q)
e.g.:
q = 54.74;
Angles:
(100) vs. (110): 45, 90 ;
(100) vs. (111): 54.74;
(110) vs. (111): 35.26, 90 , 144.74;

Silicon Wafers

Silicon wafer

Silicon crystallography
Wafers commonly used for Bulk
micromachining
Wet etching: 100 and 110
111 not used.

MEMS-Fabrication

Microengineering refers to the technologies and practice of

making three dimensional structures and devices with
dimensions in the order of micrometers.
The two constructional technologies of microengineering are
Microelectronics:
producing electronic circuitry on silicon chips,
a very well developed technology.
Micromachining:
Techniques used to produce the structures and moving
parts of microengineered devices.

MEMS-Fabrication

MEMS makes use of the

fabrication
techniques
developed for the integrated
circuit industry
to add mechanical elements
such as
beams, gears, diaphragms, and
springs to devices.

Usually fabricated on Silicon

substrates

Source: Sandia National Laboratories

MEMS Fabrication

Traditional mechanical means (e.g. machining, milling, drilling

etc.) can not be used to shape the MEMS components due to
their extremely small size.
Microfabrication techniques based on physical/chemical means
for IC are used as the principal fabrication techniques for
MEMS.
Photolithography for defining pattern on substrates;
Etching for removing substrate materials;
Deposition for building thin layers onto substrates;
Epitaxy for the growth of thin films of same substrate
material;
Diffusion for introducing foreign materials into substrates;

Micromachining Techniques

Silicon micromachining generally involves adding layers of

material over a substrate with etching precise patterns in these
layers or the underlying substrate.
The substrate is typically a silicon wafer: a circular disk, 500 600 m
thick and 2-6 in dia.(!)
For ICs, silicon wafer is an integral part of the finished product.
For MEMS silicon wafer often acts as a mechanical anchor or support.
Silicon wafer bonding may also be required.

Some processes have been developed exclusively for Silicon

Micromachining eg.
Aniosotropic chemical wet etching
Deep reactive ion etching
Wafer bonding

Silicon Micromachining

Bulk Micromachining: Building

microstructure
by
Removing
materials by etching
Enable better control in Zdirection, with a loss in XY
flexibility.
Thus, they are useful in high
aspect ratio structures.
Surface micromachining: : Layer by
layer addition Depositing Thin films
onto the substrate one layer after
another to build the 3-dimensional
geometry.
Can produce planar structures (in
XY direction) with little
control in Z-direction
low aspect ratio devices.

Etched pit

Etched Pit
Silicon

Silicon

 Bulk Micromachining:
1. Anisotropic wet etch processes
2. Deep Reactive ion etching

Bulk micromachining

is removal of a lot of material - almost the entire film thickness to create windows, membranes, various structures
How - by etching:
Wet etching:
isotropic and undercut appears, which can be used in
some devices
anisotropic: structures defined by crystal planes

Anisotropic Wet etching

KOH - not compatible with ICs (alkali metal such as K

contaminates the transistors); high selectivity for different
crystal orientation: (100 : 111 = 400 : 1),
silicon nitride is a very good mask (selectivity 1000),
silicon oxide (selectivity 100), stops at p++ layers
EDP (ethylene diamine pyrocatechol) - toxic, carcinogenic,
lower anisotropy: (100 : 111 = 35 : 1)
N2H4 (Hydrazine)- explosive
TMAH (tetra methyl ammonium hydroxide) - The etch
difference not so big: (100 : 111 = 25 : 1)

Anisotrpic Back etching

Control of etch depth

in order to make structures with certain dimension, it is

important to etch the right depth; there are a few methods used
to control the etch depth:
Timing - it is the least accurate method, due to the fact that
etching rate varies very much with temperature,
concentration, etc
Anisotropic etching of V-grooves - if only small
rectangulars/windows are made, then in an anisotropic wet
etch, the etching stops when the two planes combine, making
a V-groove

Control of etch depth

P++ doping - the etch rate is much lower in high doped

material, than in undoped material, therefore if implantation
occurs in the region where etching should end, an etch stop is
created .
explanation: electrons recombine with holes, limiting the
electrons number needed for etching.
Not IC-compatible, more process steps, lower
piezoresistive coefficient for high doping
SiO2 (or other material) can be used to stop the etching
Electrochemical etch stop - by biasing positive a n-silicon
part, the p silicon will be etched, the n-Si not etched.

Anisotrpic Back etching

The pressure sensitive diaphragm is formed by silicon back-end

Bulk micromachining.

Silicon Diaphragm

The
pressure
sensitive diaphragm
is formed by silicon
back-end
Bulk
micromachining.

Four piezoresistive sense

elements are placed on a
thin crystalline silicon
membrane in Wheatstone
bridge configuration to
measure stress.

Deep Reactive Ion etching

Dry etching:
XeF2 , no plasma, rough surface
Plasma etch - 1:100 Deep trench etching (alternating passivation step and etching
step)
o Advantage: vertical features,
o Disadvantage: cost of equipment

Bulk MEMS Fabrication: DRIE

start with unpatterned wafer stack a wafer-bonded SOI

(silicon on insulator)
photoresist

(1) Pattern photoresist sacrificial SiO2

bulk silicon substrate

wafer-bonded Silicon

(2) DRIE vertical etch

Bulk MEMS Fabrication: DRIE

start with unpatterned wafer stack a wafer-bonded SOI

(silicon on insulator)

(3) SiO2 isotropic etch

(4) Gold evaporation
Narrow features released, Wide features
just undercut
Gold mirrors on top and potentially sides

Bulk Silicon MEMS Devices

Single-axis tilt-mirror photo

courtesy R. Conant, BSAC

Comb-drive switch photo courtesy

IMT (Neuchatel)

Surface micromachining

What is it.
a sacrificial layer beneath another layer is etched (completely
removed from the final structure), thus releasing the upper
layer, which will remain connected to the wafer only in some
regions
It is called "surface" because it takes place on the wafer
surface (compared to bulk, where the whole wafer thickness
is etched)
Why is it used?
Bulk micromachining requires bigger areas due to
anisotropic wet etching (the lateral etch is big)
Parts of the structure can be released and move laterally, thus
it is useful in making actuators
Can be integrated with IC

Surface Mircomachining

Materials used
low-stress film polysilicon deposited by LPCVD
it is annealed because annealing changes the type of stress
from compressive to tensile due to crystallization
(contraction), giving the possibilty to obtain stress free
material if the annealing time is chosen well
Si3N4 - increased hardness
sacrificial layer - removed without etching the structural
layer
Al, photoresist, SiO2
o SiO2 is prefered because of high temp deposition,
high selectivity for HF(polysilicon)

Suraface MIcromachining

Applications: cantilever
used to sense chemicals
frequency of vibrations is measured and the mass of chemical
particles can be calculated

Surface Micromachining

Starting from bare silicon wafer, deposit & pattern

multiple layers to form a MEMS wafer

~ 10 mask steps

Completed MEMS wafer

From Cronos/JDSU MUMPS user guide at

www.MEMSRUS.com

Diced and released MEMS device

Release = isotropic chemical etch to remove oxides
Special techniques may be used to remove liquid
(e.g., critical point drying)
Assembly = mechanical manipulation of structures
(e.g., raising and latching a vertical mirror plate)
Various techniques used, some highly
proprietary

Texas
1st Instruments
Optical MEMSDigital
device Light
Projector
& DLP PROJECTOR
TM

Wafer Bonding

 is used to join irreversible two wafers together .

Bonding has to be leakproof

http://81.161.252.57/ipci/courses/technology/inde_378.htm

Wafer bonding
types of bonding:
Fusion bonding:
first the wafer is
immersed in acid to
create hydrophilic surfaces with O-H bonds
then
the
surfaces
are
put
in
contact
and hydrogen bonds are created, without pressure
at the end, a high temperature treatment (800oC) is
given and the bonds become permanent bonds (water is
desorbed and strong Si-O bonds are created)
surfaces such as Si/Si, SiO2/SiO2, Si/Si3N4, etc. can be
bonded

 Anodic bonding - in this case temperature + voltage bias are

used to form a strong bond between glass and silicon
The two wafers are placed on a heater and a voltage bias is
applied between them (positive at silicon, negative at the
Pyrex/glass wafer)
Na+ ions are atracted and because they are mobile, they
travel through the the glass wafer to the electrode, both
wafers become conductive and the electric field is
concentrated at the high-resistance area at the interface
between the wafers

 Electrostatic attractive forces pull the wafers together

creating a strong contact, together with the temperature
(400oC), creates chemical bonds between glass and Si
(oxygen ions drift to the silicon, creating strong Si-O bonds)
Surfaces must be very clean and flat
advantage: lower temperature is needed, thus this method can
be used with wafers patterned with metal,

 eutectic bonding
one Si wafer has a layer of gold on top
when the two wafers are put in contact and tempereature
is raised until eutectic temperature, Au will diffuse in Si,
creating a strong alloy at the interface
Applications of bonding: creating a sealed cavity for a capacitive
pressure sensor, for example:

History of MEMS
.Some historical stuff

 The inception of Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS)

devices occurred in many places and through the ideas and
endeavors of several individuals.
Worldwide, new MEMS technologies and applications are being
developed every day. This unit gives a broad look at some of the
milestones which have contributed to the development of
MEMS as we know them today.

1940s

1939 PN-junction semiconductor (W. Schottky)

1947 Transistor (J. Bardeen, W.H. Brattain, W. Shockley)

 A transistor uses electrical current or a small

amount of voltage to control a larger change
in current or voltage.
Transistors are the building blocks of
computers, cellular phones, and all other
modern electronics.
In 1947, William Shockley, John Bardeen,
and Walter Brattain of Bell Laboratories
built the first point-contact transistor.
The first transistor used germanium, a
semiconductive chemical.
It demonstrated the capability of building
transistors with semiconductive materials.

First Point Contact

Transistor and Testing
Apparatus (1947) [Photo
Courtesy of The
Porticus Centre]

1950s

1950: Silicon Anisotropic Etchants (KOH) in Bell

Lab

1954: Piezoresistive effect in Silicon and

Germanium (C.S. Smith)
The piezoresistive effect of semiconductor can be
several magnitudes larger than that in metals.
This discovery showed that silicon and
germanium could sense air or water pressure
better than metal .
Strain gauges began to be developed
commercially in 1958.
Kulite was founded in 1959 as the first
commercial source of silicon strain gages .
Many MEMS devices such as strain gauges,
pressure sensors, and accelerometers utilize the
piezoresistive effect in silicon.

An Example of a
Piezoresistive Pressure
Sensor
[MTTC Pressure Sensor]

1958 First integrated circuit

Prior to the invention of the IC there

were limits on the size of transistors.
They had to be connected to wires
and other electronics.
An IC includes the transistors,
resistors, capacitors, and wires.
If a circuit could be made all
together on one substrate, then the
whole device could be made smaller
In 1958, Jack Kilby from Texas
Instruments built a "Solid Circuit
on one germanium chip: 1 transistor,
3 resistors, and 1 capacitor.

Texas Instrument's First

Integrated Circuit
[Photos Courtesy of Texas
Instruments]

http://www.monolithic3d.com/blog/jack-kilby-bob-noyce-and-the-3d-integrated-circuit

first "Unitary Circuit on a silicon chip.

The first patent was awarded in

1961 to Robert Noyce

1959: Theres Plenty of Room at the

Bottom

Richard Feynmans Theres Plenty of Room at

the Bottom was presented at a meeting of the
American Physical Society in 1959.

The talk popularized the growth of micro and nano

technology.
Feynman introduced the possibility of manipulating
matter on an atomic scale.
He was interested in denser computer circuitry, and
microscopes which could see things much smaller
than is possible with scanning electron microscopes.
He challenged his audience to design and build a an
electrical motor smaller than 1/64th of an inch or to
write the information from a page of a book on a
surface 1/25,000.
For each challenge, he offered prizes of $1000.

Richard Feynman
on his bongos
Photo credit: Tom
Harvey

 William
McLellan's
prizewinning electric motor, which
would fit inside a cube one sixtyfourth of an inch across, is seen
next to a gnat's wing
But just two and a half months
later, William McLellan, a
physicist at the University of
California Institute of Science and
Technology, claimed the prize
http://www.daviddarling.info/childrens_encycl
opedia/Nanotechnology_Chapter6.html

http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/Issues/2009/January/FeynmansFancy.asp

 The tiny print prize took 25

years to materialize and was
finally awarded in November
1985 to a Stanford grad
student named Thomas H.
Newman.
shrunk the first paragraph of
A Tale of Two Cities to
1/25,000 of it's normal size,
using a beam of electrons to
scratch the surface of a thin
plastic membrane.

1960s

1962: Silicon integrated piezo actuators (O.N. Tufte,

P.W.Chapman and D. Long)
1964: Harvey Nathanson from Westinghouse produced the first
batch fabricated MEMS device: a resonant gate transistor
(RGT).

The Resonant Gate Transistor

This device joined a mechanical

component
with
electronic
elements
The RGT was a gold resonating
MOS gate structure.
It
was
approximately
one
millimeter long and it responded to
a very narrow range of electrical
input signals.
It served as a frequency filter for
ICs.
The RGT was the earliest
demonstration of micro electrostatic
actuators.
It
was
also
the
first
demonstration
of
surface
micromaching techniques.

Resonant Gate Transistor

 1965: Invention of surface micromachining; Surface

micromachined FET accelerometer (H.C. Nathanson, R.A.
Wickstrom)
1967: Anisotropic deep silicon etching (H.A. Waggener et al.)
1968 The Resonant Gate Transistor Patented

1971 The Invention of the

Microprocessor

1971, Intel publicly introduced the world's first single chip

microprocessor -The Intel 4004
It powered the Busicom calculator
This invention paved the way for the personal computer

The Intel 4004 Microprocessor

Photo Courtesy of Intel Corporation

Busicom calculator
Photo Courtesy of Intel Corporation

1960 and 70s

1960's and 1970s Bulk-Etched Silicon Wafers as Pressure Sensors

"Electrochemically Controlled Thinning of Silicon" by H. A. Waggener
illustrated anisotropic etching of silicon (removes silicon selectivity).
This technique is the basis of the bulk micromachining process.
Bulk micromachining etches away the bulk of the silicon substrate
leaving behind the desired geometries.
Fabricating these micromechanical elements requires selective etching
techniques such as bulk etching.
In the 1970's, a micromachined pressure sensor using a silicon diaphragm
was developed by Kurt Peterson from IBM research laboratory.
Thin diaphragm pressure sensors were proliferated in blood pressure
monitoring devices .
Considered to be one of the earliest commercial successes of
microsystems devices.

1970s

Seventies
First capacitive pressure sensor (Stanford)
1977 Silicon electrostatic accelerometer (Stanford)
1979 Integrated gas chromatograph (S.C. Terry, J.H. Jerman and
J.B. Angell)
1979 HP Micromachined Inkjet Nozzle

1979 HP Micromachined Inkjet Nozzle

Hewlett Packard developed the Thermal Inkjet Technology

(TIJ).
The TIJ rapidly heats ink, creating tiny bubbles.
When the bubbles collapse, the ink squirts through an array of
nozzles onto paper and other media.
MEMS technology is used to manufacture the nozzles.
The nozzles can be made very small and can be densely packed
for high resolution printing.
New applications using the TIJ have also been developed, such
as direct deposition of organic chemicals and biological
molecules such as DNA

Schematic of an array of
inkjet nozzlesClose

nozzlesClose-up view of a
commercial inkjet printer head
illustrating the nozzles [Hewlett
Packard]

1980s

Early 1980s,

1982
Silicon
as
a
Mechanical Material (K.
Petersen)
Rebirth
of
surface
micromachining. Polysilicon
structural layers and oxide
sacrifical layers,. (Berkeley
and Wisconsin)
1982 LIGA Process (W. Ehrfeld
et al.)
Disposable
transducer

blood

pressure

1983 Integrated pressure

sensor (Honeywell)

1982 LIGA Process Introduced

LIGA is a German acronym for X-ray

lithography
(X-ray
Lithographie),
Electroplating
(Galvanoformung),
and
Molding (Abformung).
In the early 1980s Karlsruhe Nuclear
Research Center in Germany developed
LIGA.
It allows for manufacturing of high aspect
ratio microstructures.
High aspect ratio structures are very
skinny and tall.
LIGA structures have precise dimensions
and good surface roughness.

LIGA-micromachined
gear for a mini
electromagnetic
motor[Courtesy of
Sandia National
Laboratories]

1980s

Late 1980s
Berkeley and Bell Labs demonstrate poly-silicon surface micro-mechanism;
1986 Silicon wafer bonding (M. Shimbo)
The Beginning of MEMS CAD
Analog Devices begins accelerometer project
1986 Invention of the AFM
1988 Batch fabricated pressure sensors via wafer bonding(Nova Sensor)
Rotary electrostatic side drive motors (Berkeley)
Lateral comb drive (Tang, Nguyen, Howe,
Berkeley)
The motors stimulating major interest in Europe, Japan, and U.S

1986 Invention of the AFM

In 1986 IBM developed a microdevice called the atomic force

microscope (AFM).
The AFM maps the surface of an atomic structure by
measuring the force acting on the tip (or probe) of a
microscale cantilever.
The cantilever is usually silicon or silicon nitride.
It is a very high resolution type of scanning probe
microscope with a resolution of fractions of an Angstrom
Cantilever on an Atomic
Force Microscope

Rotary electrostatic side drive motors

(Berkeley

1990s

Early Nineties:
MEMS rapidly extending to the whole world.
Research on Fabrication techniques, Design technology, CAD tools and
Devices are developing quickly.
CAD Tools:
MIT, S. D. Senturia, MEMCAD1.0
Michigan, Selden Crary, CAEMEMS1.0
Techniques:
1992: Bulk micromachining (SCREAM process, Cornell)
MCNC starts the Multi User MEMS Process (MUMPS),
Sandia SuMMit Technology
Bosch Process for DRIE is Patented
Devices:
Grating light modulator invented at Stanford University (Solgaard,
Sandejas, Bloom)
First micromachined hinge

1992 Grating Light Modulator

The deformable grating light

modulator (GLM) was introduced
by Solgaardin 1992.
It is a Micro OptoElectro
Mechanical System (MOEMS).
It has been developed for uses in
various applications: Display
technology,
graphic
printing,
lithography
and
optical
communications

Grating Light Valve

http://electronicdesign.com/sitefiles/electronicdesign.com/files/archive/electronicdesign.com/files/29/1498/figure_03.gif

1993 Multi-User MEMS Processes

(MUMPs) Emerges

In 1993 Microelectronics Center of North Carolina (MCNC)

created MUMPs:
A foundry meant to make microsystems processing highly
accessible and cost effective for a large variety of users
A three layer polysilicon surface micromachining process
For a nominal cost, MUMPs participants are given a 1 cm2
area to create their own design.
In 1998, Sandia National Labs developed SUMMiT IV (Sandia
Ultra-planar, Multi-level MEMS Technology 5)
This process later evolved into the SUMMiT V, a five-layer
polycrystalline silicon surface micromachining process

Two simple structures using the MUMPs

process [MCNC]

A MEMS device built using SUMMiT IV

[Sandia National Laboratories]

Mid. 1990s

Devices
1993: Digital mirror display (Texas
Instruments)
BioMEMS rapidly development
1994:Commercial surface micromachined
accelerometer (ADXL50)(Analog Devices)
MEMS Design
MEMCAD2.0
Microcosm Inc. for MEMCAD
Intellisense Inc. for IntelliSuite
ISE for TCAD, SOLIDIS and ICMAT

1993 First ManufacturedAccelerometer

In 1993 Analog Devices were the first to

produce a surface micromachined
accelerometer in high volume.
The automotive industry used this
accelerometer in automobiles for
airbag deployment sensing.
It was sold for $5 (previously, TRW
macro sensors were being sold for
about $20).
It was highly reliable, very small, and
very inexpensive.
It was sold in record breaking
numbers
which
increased
the
availability of airbags in automobiles.

1994 Deep Reactive Ion Etching is

Patented

In 1994, Bosch, a company from

Germany, developed the Deep
Reactive-Ion Etching (DRIE)
process.
DRIE is a highly anisotropic etch
process used to create deep, steepsided holes and trenches in wafers.
It was developed for micro devices
which required these features.
It is also used to excavate trenches
for high-density capacitors for
DRAM (Dynamic random-access
memory).

Trenches etched with DRIE[SEM

images courtesy of Khalil Najafi,
University of Michigan]]

 Devices

Later 1990s

Bio-MEMS: Microfluidics starts with capillary electrophoresis.

-TAS (Micro-total-analysis System) vision for diagnosis,
sensing and synthesis
Optical MEMS booming and bust from 1998-2002 (Lucent)

1999 Optical network switch (Lucent)

RF MEMS from 2000
Commercialization of inertial sensors (AD, Motorola)
by each company by 2002

Late 1990's, Early 2000's Optics

In 1999 Lucent Technologies developed the first optical network
switch.
Optical switches are optoelectric devices.
They consist of a light source and a detector that produces a
switched output.
The switch provides a switching function in a data
communications network.
These MEMS optical switches utilize micro mirrors to switch or
reflect an optical channel or signal from one location to another.
There are several different design configurations.
Growth in this area of technology is still progressing.

Late 1990's, Early 2000's BioMEMS

Scientists are combining sensors and actuators with emerging
biotechnology.
Applications include
drug delivery systems
insulin pumps (see picture)
DNA arrays
lab-on-a-chip (LOC)
Glucometers
neural probe arrays
Insulin pump [Debiotech, Switzerland]
microfluidics

2000-till today

MEMS Microphone 2005

2015: Dissolvable Micro Medical Devices
11/18/15
Thinking back to the late 1960s when scientific
researchers were envisioning using a tube made out of metal
(stent) to open up an artery, they would never have imagined we
are on the verge of stents that dissolve in the body over time!

 2006
Akustica introduces world's first digital microphone the AKU2000

Massive industrialisation and commercialisation.

2001 Triaxis accelerometers appear on the market.
2002 First nanoimprinting tools announced.
2003 MEMS microphones for volume applications introduced.
2003 Discera start sampling MEMS oscillators.
2004 TIs DLP chip sales rose to nearly $900 million.
2005 Analog Devices shipped its two hundred millionth MEMSbased inertial sensor.
2006 Packaged triaxis accelerometers smaller then 10 mm3 are
becoming available.
2006 Dual axis MEMS gyros appear on the market.
2006 Perpetuum releases vibration energy harvester.

 RF MEMS
RF switch,
OPTICAL MEMS
Micromirror array for optical switching,
BIOMEMS
Lab on a chip, Capillary Electrophoresis Analysis
MiniMed Paradigm 522 insulin pump

 Retina array:
[Courtesy of Sandia National Laboratories]

Micro-pump for insulin

 MiniMed Paradigm 522 insulin pump

The MiniMedParadigm522 insulin
pump, with sensor, transmitter and
infusion line is one of a few devices on
the market that can not only monitor a
persons glucose levels 24/7, but can
deliver insulin on an as needed basis.
Its components are
(A) an external pump and computer,
(B) a soft cannulathat delivers the
insulin,
(C) an interstitial glucose sensor, and
(D) a wireless radio device that
communicates with the

Micro-pump for insulin

[Printed with permission
from DebiotechSA]

 computer.The sensor (C) is placed under

the skin. The sensor continuously
measures glucose levels in the interstitial
fluid (the fluid between body tissues).
The measurements from the sensor are
received in real time by the wireless
radio device (D). This device sends the
readings to the computer (A) which
determines the amount of insulin needed.
The pump (A) administers that amount
into the patient via the cannula (B). The
Mini-Med Paradigm computer also
stores all the data.

MiniMed Paradigm 522

insulin pump, with
MiniLinkTM] transmitter
and infusion set. [Printed
with permission from
Medtronic Diabetes]

 A therapeutic bioMEMS device

currently being tested is the artificial
retinal prosthesis called the Argus
Retinal Prosthesis System.
Artificial RetinaThe heart of the
system is an artificial retina -an
electrode array placed directly on the
retina at the back of the eye. This
array duplicates the task of the
photoreceptor cells in the retina.
These cells are destroyed in retinal
diseases such as age-related macular
degeneration
and
retinitis
pigmentosa(RP).

 The Rapid, Automated Point-of-Care

System (RapiDx) developed by Sandia
National Laboratories is a portable
diagnostic instrument that uses mere
microlitersof a sample to measure large
panel of biomarkers.
RapiDxquickly measureswith high
sensitivitydisease and toxin biomarkers
in human biological samples (e.g., blood,
saliva, urine) so that patient ailments can
be quickly diagnosed and treated.
RapiDxis an ideal instrument for point-ofcare diagnostics of disease and toxin
detection in health clinics and on the field.

Summary

Since the invention of the transistor, scientists have been trying

to improve and develop new micro electro mechanical systems.
The first MEMS devices measured such things as pressure in
engines and motion in cars. Today, MEMS are controlling our
communications networks
MEMS are saving lives by inflating automobile air bags and
beating hearts.
MEMS are traveling through the human body to monitor blood
pressure.
MEMS are even getting smaller. We now have nano electro
mechanical systems (NEMS).
The applications and growth for MEMS and NEMS are endless

Intraocular Pressure sensor

Challenges of MEMS

Challenges of MEMS

The complexity of MEMS design.

Typical MEMS devices, even simple ones, manipulate
energy (information) in several energy domains. The
designer must understand, and find ways to control, complex
interactions between these domains.
Parallel processing
does not lend it self to step-by step optimization of a design.
The high tooling costs.
A state-of-the-art silicon foundry cost the better part of $1B.

Challenges

Packaging
usually need to interact with the environment in some way
(e.g., pressure sensor, chemical sensor)
very diversified no standard packaging method
Testing:
involves multiple energy domains
Power sources
CAD tools (interdisciplinary, usually involves several energy
domains, mechanical, electrical, thermal, etc.)
Multidisciplinary/interdisciplinary collaboration

MEMS Standards (?)

Standards are generally driven by the needs of high-volume

applications.
MEMS has roots in integrated circuit industry
But, the two market dynamics differ.
The major difference is the lack of standards in MEMS.

The Multi-discipline nature of

MEMS technology

Natural Science:
Physics & Chemistry
Electromechanical
-chemical Processes
Electrical Engineering
Power supply.
Electric systems
design in electrohydrodynamics.
Signal transduction,
acquisition, conditioning and processing.
Electric & integrated
circuit design.
Electrostatic & EMI.

Quantum physics
Solid-state physics, Scaling laws

Mechanical Engineering
Machine components design.
Precision machine design.
Mechanisms & linkages.
Thermomechanicas:
solid & fluid mechanics, heat
transfer, fracture mechanics.
Intelligent control.
Micro process equipment
design and manufacturing.
Packaging and assembly design.

Process Engineering
Design & control of
micro fabrication processes.
Thin film technology.

Material
Science
Materials Engineering
Materials for device
components & packaging.
Materials for signal
transduction.
Materials for fabrication
processes.

Industrial Engineering
Process implementation.
Production control.
Micro packaging & assembly.
(Multidiscipline of MEMS.Slide presentation)HSU

MEMS Applications
Automotive industry
Medical
Digital Light Projection Technology
Printing Technology
SMART Phone

 Where can
MEMS?
in your car

MEMS Applications
you

find

Applications in Automotive Industry

Every new car sold has micromachined sensors on-board. They
range from
MAP (Manifold Absolute Pressure) engine sensors,
Accelerometers for active suspension systems,
Automatic door locks, and antilock braking and airbag
systems.
Flowsensors
microscanners

http://www.analog.com/library/techArticles/mems/xlbckgdr4.html

Applications in Automotive Industry

Applications in Automotive Industry

Micro-accelerometer
ADXL-50:
surface
micromachined,
integrated BiCMOS (Analog Devices, 1995)

Analog Devices' ADXL50 accelerometer

Surface micromachining capacitive sensor
2.5 x 2.5 mm die incl. electronic controls
Cost: $30 vs ~$300 bulk sensor (93)
Cut to $5/axis by 1998
Replaced by 3-axis ADXL150

Analog Devices

Acceleration Sensors

Elastic hinge

Proof Mass
Spacer

Silicon substrate

Capacitive Accelerometer

Force

Applications in Automotive Industry

Inertia Sensor for Air Bag Deployment System

Micro inertia sensor (accelerometer)

(Analog Devices, Inc)

Pressure Sensors
Pext
Measure
RC time

Force

Pint

Membrane
Spacer

Silicon substrate

Capacitive Pressure Sensor

NovaSensors piezo-resistive pressure sensors

Piezo-resistive pressure sensor

High-pressure gas sensor

(ceramic surface-mount)

Disposable medical sensor

Applications-Medical

Applications-Medical

Micropump
Lower 2 wafers bonded via silicon fusion
bonding. Top wafer later glued.
Piezo ceramic driven by high voltage (-40V,
+90V)
At 100Hz, no back pressure, average flow rate
1600l/min.
Dead volume = pump chamber volume 800nl.
Average stroke volume = 260nl.
Bubble tolerant and self-priming.

BioMEMS:

Applications-Medical

Applications-Digital Light Projection

Technology
DMD- 1st Optical MEMS device

Texas Instruments

Digital Light Projector

TM

& DLP PROJECTOR

Applications-Printing Technology

Inkjet Printers

Computer read/write heads

Ink jet print head

Magnetic disk read/write head

Applications:Communications

Micro Switches for Fiber Optical Network

(Lucent Technology, Murray Hill, NJ)

Applications:Communications

MEMS Optical Switch Lucent micromirror

16X16 Array
Size of Each mirror:~ head of a pin
Tilts to steer lightwave signals from
one optical fiber to another

Part of Lucent
Technologies'
WaveStartm
LambdaRouter

(Lucent, 1999)

Communications

MEMS Resonators, filters, Phase shifters, Reconfigurable

antennae

Consumer Electronics

Smart Phones, Cameras

Micromachined
accelerometer sensors are
now being used in seismic
recording,
machine
monitoring, and diagnostic
systems - or basically any
application where gravity,
shock, and vibration are
factors.
The field is also widening
considerably
in
other
markets.

MEMS Market
$ 7 billion at the component level
Enable $ 100 billions market
Akustika: MEMS-based speakers
(Audiopixels)

MEMS Market

Automotive industry:

manifold air pressure sensor (Honeywell, Motorola) nearly 40 million

units per year.
Air bag sensor (accelerometer:50 million units per year).
Anolog Devices: Accelerometer, Gyroscopes.

Medical

Disposable blood pressure sensors at 20 million units per year.

Digital Light Projection Technology:

TI digital mirror display (DMD) video projection system (development

cost ~ $1B)

Printing Technology:

Inkjet nozzles (HP, Canon, Lexmark)up to 1600 x 1600 resolution(~ 30M

units per year)

MEMS Microphones

CAD For MEMS

MEMS Design Tools

Example: Pressure Sensor Design

The design involves: Designing

the pressure sensor membrane geometry:

maximizing the sensitivity by optimizing
the membrane dimensions.The pressure
sensor membrane
the signal conditioning circuit
a suitable package for the device

Layout design using MEMS PRO

Simulation using ANSYS software.
Coventerware
COMSOL
MEMS+
Intellisuite

Eg.The pressure sensor Model

in MEMSPRO

Meshed Model

Meshed in Hypermesh 5.0

The deflection analysis

Maximum Deflection:3.5 micron

In micron

Stress analysis

Maximum Stress: 424 MPa

In MPa

The Schematic of Piezoresistive Pressure

sensor

Voltage Sensitivity Simulation

TOP Ten Products

As for areas of opportunity, VDC's market attractiveness index

identifies the top 10 near term opportunities in the MEMS /
MST market:

Micro-fluidic biochips for medical diagnostics and drug discovery

Glucose micro-fluidic monitoring sensors
Tire pressure sensors
Hard disk drive heads
Consumer print heads for inkjet printers
Over the counter micro-fluidic testing devices for detecting medical
conditions
Large format print heads
Devices that enable advanced automotive functions
ABS accelerometers and gyroscopes
Automobile mass airflow sensors
Microphones
RF antennas

TOP TEN products

1. Inkjet PrinterHead
2. DMD
3.Gyro
4.Accelerometer
5. Lb on a chip
6. TPMS
7. Microphone
8. Silicon clock(resonator)
9.RF MEMS
10. Medical Pressure sensor

Silicon Cap Wafer

The Pressure Sensor

Silicon
Membrane

Silicon Substrate
Glass Plate
for support
Fig.3. Cross section of a typical sensor die
Piezoresistors

Conductor
Pattern

Bonding pads

Fig.5. TOP VIEW : Silicon Membrane wafer

MEMS Pressure Sensor

These are based on the deflection of Silicon Membrane.

Silicon Cap Wafer
Silicon Substrate
Glass Plate
for support

The sensing is of two types

Cross section of a typical sensor die
Capacitive
Piezoresistive

Silicon
Membrane

Fabrication

Bulk micro machining in single crystal silicon and

Surface micromachining in polysilicon.

Pressure Sensor Range

vacuum,
Low pressure (0.02 to 0.1 Atm),
Medium pressure (0.25 to 10 Atm),
High pressure (60 to more than 500 Atm).

Capacitive pressure sensors

high sensitivity
small dynamic range
because the gap between the capacitor plates must be very
small to obtain a large capacitance.
A thin silicon diaphragm is employed with a narrow capacitive
gap and a vacuum cavity for reference pressure.
The silicon diaphragms have better mechanical properties,
including freedom from creep, resulting in better repeatability
than metal diaphragms.

Capacitive pressure sensors

The sensor is formed from two glass substrates and a silicon

wafer.
The silicon wafer is sandwiched between the two glass wafers
by anodic bonding, simultaneously forming a sealed reference
cavity.
An alloy of Zn-V-Fe is used as a Non Evaporable Getter (NEG)
to maintain the reference cavity at high vacuum. After bonding
in vacuum, the NEG can absorb the remaining gas in the
reference cavity.

Capacitive pressure sensors

Use of a P++ (heavily doped boron) etch stop layer provides

accurate control of diaphragm thickness.

Structure of a capacitive absolute pressure sensor

 Pressure range 0-100mTorr

Can be extended to about 500 mtorr.

1.

A Ultra-Sensitive, High-Vacuum Absolute Capacitive Pressure Sensor;

Technical Digest of the 14th IEEE International Conference On Micro
Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS 2001), pp. 166-169, Interlaken,
Switzerland, Jan. 21-25, 2001.

Working of piezoresistive sensor

The sensing material
diaphragm formed on a silicon substrate,
which bends with applied pressure. The
membrane defection is typically less than 1
m.
A deformation occurs in the crystal lattice of the
diaphragm because of that bending.
This deformation causes a change in the
resistivity of the material. This change can be
an increase or a decrease according to the
orientation of the resistors.

Working of piezoresistive sensor

The Piezoresistive sensor utilizes silicon strain gauges
configured as a Wheatstone bridge in which one or more
resistors change value when strained.
The output normalized to input pressure is known as sensitivity
(mV/V/Pa), and is related to the piezoresistive coefficients.
These sensors require an applied current and signal-conditioning
electronics for operation.
Due to the simple construction and their large output signal,
Piezoresistive sensors take a primacy within pressure sensors.
Piezoresistive pressure sensors are available for different
nominal pressure ranges from 10mbar up to 1000 bar and can
therefore be used for different applications.

piezoresistive silicon Pressure Sensor

Mature processing technology.
Different pressure levels can be achieved according to the
application.
Also, various sensitivities can be obtained.
Read-out circuitry can be either on-chip or discrete
Low-cost

Diaphragm

The pressure sensitive diaphragm is

formed by silicon back-end bulk
micromachining.
Silicon diaphragms are formed by
Anisotropically etching the back of a
silicon wafer. Usually a square
membrane can be formed by wet
etching in KOH or TMAH (TriMethyl
Ammonium Hydroide) solution.
The circular membranes can be obtained
by dry etch process.
The silicon diaphragms 5-50 microns
1 micron and area 1- 100 square mm.
The size and thickness of the finished
diaphragm depend on the pressure range
desired.

The SEM (Scanning

Electron Microscope)
view of the back-side of
one of the sensor

diaphragm

Typical Piezoresistive Pressure Sensor

 The piezoresistive elements (i.e., the diffused resistors) are

located on an n-type epitaxial layer of typical thickness 2-10
micron. The epitaxial layer is deposited on a p-type substrate.
The aluminum conductors join the semiconductor resistors in a
bridge configuration and are attached to the bond pads for circuit
interconnection.

 The resistors are placed on the

diaphragm such that two experience
mechanical tension in parallel and the
other two are perpendicular to the
direction of current flow.
Thus, the two pairs exhibit resistance
changes opposite to each other. These
pairs are located diagonally in the bridge
such that applied pressure produces a
bridge imbalance.
Deformation by applied pressure causes
high levels of mechanical tension at the
edges of the diaphragm. Positioning the
resistors in this area of highest tension
increases sensitivity.

The pressure
sensor chip

 Alumina substrates are used for the packaging of the sensor

The alumina substrate has a hole at

the middle. This is required for
differential pressure measurements
and the air pressure is always applied
to the back side of the sensor via this
hole.

Here the sensor is bonded on the

substrate .The wire bonding is
also done.

The packed pressure sensor

A cap is made for the input pressure port. The electrical

connections are covered with epoxy for electrical isolation.

MEMS in ACTIONS

MEMS in Action

MEMS in Action

MEMS in Action

MEM GYRO

MEMS Directional Microphone

Summary

We have learnt:
What is MEMS why do we need mems , how do we
fabricate, what are the challenges in design, fabrication,
packaging and testing MEMS
We have reviewed current MEMS market and a few
applications