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Report On Mems
Report On Mems
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CONTENTS:
• Introduction to MEMS
• What are MEMS?
• Materials for MEMS manufacturing
• History of MEMS
• Basic MEMS process
• Die bonding
• Wire bonding
• Fabrication process
• MEMS in the manufacture of
pressure sensors
• Applications
• Advantages and disadvantages
• Technological advancements in
MEMS
• Areas of research
• Future scope
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INTRODUCTION TO MEMS
MEMS has been identified as one of the most
promising technologies for the 21st Century and
has the potential to revolutionize both industrial
and consumer products by combining silicon-
based microelectronics with micromachining
technology.
Its techniques and micro system based devices
have the potential to dramatically affect of all of
our lives and the way we live. If semiconductor
micro fabrication was seen to be the first micro
manufacturing revolution, MEMS is the second
revolution. MEMS can be found in systems
ranging across automotive, medical, electronic,
communication and defence applications.
Current MEMS devices include accelerometers
for airbag sensors, inkjet printer heads,
computer disk drive read/write heads, projection
display chips, blood pressure sensors.
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WHAT ARE MEMS?
Micro-electromechanical systems(MEMS) is a
process technology used to create tiny integrated
devices or systems that combine mechanical and
electrical components.
They are fabricated using integrated circuit (IC)
batch processing techniques and can range in size
from a few micrometers to millimetres.
These devices (or systems) have the ability to sense,
control and actuate on the micro scale, and generate
effects on the macro scale.
While the device electronics are fabricated using
‘computer chip’ IC technology, the micromechanical
components are fabricated by sophisticated
manipulations of silicon and other substrates using
micromachining processes.
While integrated circuits are designed to exploit the
electrical properties of silicon, MEMS takes
advantage of either silicon’s mechanical properties
or both its electrical and mechanical properties.
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In the most general form, MEMS consist of
mechanical microstructures, micro sensors, micro
actuators and microelectronics, all integrated onto
the same silicon chip..
Micro sensors detect changes in the system’s
environment by measuring mechanical, thermal,
magnetic, chemical or electromagnetic information
or phenomena. Microelectronics process this
information and signal the micro actuators to react
and create some form of changes to the environment.
MEMS devices are very small; their components are
usually microscopic. Levers, gears, pistons, as well
as motors and even steam engines have all been
fabricated by MEMS. However, MEMS is not just
about the miniaturization of mechanical components
or making things out of silicon. MEMS is a
manufacturing technology; a paradigm for designing
and creating complex mechanical devices and
systems as well as their integrated electronics using
batch fabrication techniques.
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While the functional elements of MEMS are
miniaturized structures, sensors, actuators, and
microelectronics, the most notable (and perhaps
most interesting) elements are the micro sensors and
micro actuators. Micro sensors and micro actuators
are appropriately categorized as “transducers”,
which are defined as devices that convert energy
from one form to another. In the case of micro
sensors, the device typically converts a measured
mechanical signal into an electrical signal.
HISTORY:
1950’s
1958 Silicon strain gauges commercially available
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1960’s
. 1970’s
1970 First silicon accelerometer demonstrated
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1990’s Methods of micromachining
aimed towards improving sensors.
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BASIC MEMS PROCESS:
Deposition processes
One of the basic building blocks in MEMS
processing is the ability to deposit thin films of
material with a thickness anywhere between one
micrometre, to about 100 micrometres. The NEMS
process is the same, although the measurement of
film deposition ranges from a few nanometres to one
micrometre. There are two types of deposition
processes, as follows.
Physical deposition:
Physical vapour deposition ("PVD") consists of a
process in which a material is removed from a target,
and deposited on a surface. Techniques to do this
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include the process of sputtering, in which an ion
beam liberates atoms from a target, allowing them to
move through the intervening space and deposit on
the desired substrate, and evaporation, in which a
material is evaporated from a target using either heat
(thermal evaporation) or an electron beam (e-beam
evaporation) in a vacuum system.
Chemical deposition:
Chemical deposition techniques include chemical
vapour deposition ("CVD"), in which a stream of
source gas reacts on the substrate to grow the
material desired. This can be further divided into
categories depending on the details of the technique,
for example, LPCVD (Low Pressure chemical
vapour deposition) and PECVD (Plasma-enhanced
chemical vapour deposition).
Oxide films can also be grown by the technique
of thermal oxidation, in which the (typically silicon)
wafer is exposed to oxygen and/or steam, to grow a
thin surface layer of silicon dioxide.
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Computer Aided Design:
Computer Aided Design (CAD) is generally used in
MEMS for the design of photolithographic masks.
This is a straightforward process as MEMS
structures are relatively large in comparison to the
sub-micron structures usually associated with silicon
chip components. As well as using CAD for mask
design, CAD and finite element analysis (FEA) are
important simulation tools for the design of MEMS
applications. One of the most successful and
commercially available software design tools today
is MEMCAD, a package from Microcosm
Technologies in North Carolina, USA. The
MEMCAD system defines device layout and
process, constructs the three dimensional geometry
of the device, assembles a detailed 3D model and
analyses device performance as well as device
sensitivity to manufacturing and design variations.
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PHOTOLITHOGRAPHY:
Photolithography is the photographic technique to
transfer copies of a master pattern, usually a circuit
layout in IC applications, onto the surface of a
substrate of some material (usually a silicon wafer).
The substrate is covered with a thin film of some
material, usually silicon dioxide (SiO2), in the case
of silicon wafers, on which a pattern of holes will be
formed.
A thin layer of an organic polymer, which is
sensitive to ultraviolet radiation, is then deposited on
the oxide layer; this is called a photoresist. A photo
mask, consisting of a glass plate (transparent) coated
with a chromium pattern (opaque), is then placed in
contact with the photoresist coated surface. The
wafer is exposed to the ultraviolet radiation
transferring the pattern on the mask to the
photoresist which is then developed in a way very
similar to the process used for developing
photographic films. The radiation causes a chemical
reaction in the exposed areas of the photoresist of
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which there are two types; positive and negative.
Positive photoresist is strengthened by UV radiation
whereas negative photoresists are.
On developing, the rinsing solution removes either
the exposed areas or the unexposed areas of
photoresist leaving a pattern of bare and photoresist-
coated oxides on the wafer surface. The resulting
photoresist pattern is either the positive or negative
image of the original pattern of the photo mask.
Photoresist and silicon dioxide patterns following a
chemical (usually hydrochloric acid) is used to
attack and remove the uncovered oxide from the
exposed areas of the photoresist. The remaining
photoresist is subsequently removed, usually with
hot sulphuric acid which attacks the photoresist but
not the oxide layer on the silicon, leaving a pattern
of oxide on the silicon surface. The final oxide
pattern is either a positive or negative copy of the
photo mask pattern and serves as a mask in
subsequent processing steps. At this point MEMS
diverges from traditional IC fabrication. In
processing IC devices, the oxide pattern serves as a
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mask during the ‘doping’ of the wafer with
impurities (such as boron or phosphorous) that alter
the local conduction necessary for microelectronic
devices. In MEMS, the oxide serves as a subsequent
mask for either further additional chemical etching
creating deeper 3D pits or new layers on which to
build further layers, resulting in an overall 3D
structure or device.
Die preparation:
After preparing a large number of MEMS devices on
a silicon wafer, individual dies have to be separated,
which is called die preparation in semiconductor
technology. For some applications, the separation is
preceded by wafer back grinding in order to reduce
the wafer thickness. Wafer dicing may then be
performed either by sawing using a cooling liquid or
a dry laser process called stealth dicing.
DIE BONDING:
The term ‘die bonding’ describes the operation of
attaching the semi-conductor die either to its
package or to some substrate such as tape carrier for
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tape automated bonding. The die is first picked from
a separated wafer or waffle tray, aligned to a target
pad on the carrier or substrate, and then permanently
attached, usually by means of a solder or epoxy
bond. The requirements for the die bond are that it:
• Must not transmit destructive stress to the fragile
chip.
• Must make intimate contact between the chip and
substrate materials, with no voids, and adhere well to
both.
• Has to withstand temperature extremes without
degrading.
• Should exhibit good thermal conductivity, to
remove heat generated within the chip.
• Should be either a good electrical conductor or a
good insulator, depending on the application.
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WIRE BONDING:
Wire bonding is the method of making
interconnections (ATJ) between an integrated
circuit (IC) or other semiconductor device and
its packaging during semiconductor device
fabrication. Although less common, wire bonding
can be used to connect an IC to other electronics or
to connect from one printed circuit board (PCB) to
another. Wire bonding is generally considered the
most cost-effective and flexible interconnect
technology and is used to assemble the vast majority
of semiconductor packages. Wire bonding can be
used at frequencies above 100 GHz.
Bond wires usually consist of one of the following
materials:
• Aluminium
• Copper
• Silver
• Gold
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The main classes of wire bonding:
• Ball bonding
• Wedge bonding
• Compliant bonding
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softer. The correct combination of temperature and
ultrasonic energy is used in order to maximize the
reliability and strength of a wire bond. If heat and
ultrasonic energy is used, the process is called
thermosonic bonding.
In wedge bonding, the wire must be drawn in a
straight line according to the first bond. This slows
down the process due to time needed for tool
alignment. Ball bonding, however, creates its first
bond in a ball shape with the wire sticking out at the
top, having no directional preference. Thus, the wire
can be drawn in any direction, making it a faster
process.
Compliant bonding transmits heat and pressure
through a compliant or indentable aluminium tape
and therefore is applicable in bonding gold wires and
the beam leads that have been electroformed to the
silicon integrated circuit (known as the beam leaded
integrated circuit).
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Steps of MEMs Fabrication using
Bulk Micromachining:
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photolithographic mask which consists of the glass
plate coated with chromium pattern.
• Step 3: The third step involves photolithography.
In this step, a thin film of insulating material like
Silicon Dioxide is coated over the silicon substrate
and over this a organic layer, sensitive to ultra
violet rays is deposited using spin coating
technique. The photolithographic mask is then
placed in contact with the organic layer. The
whole wafer is then subjected to UV radiation,
allowing the pattern mask to be transferred to the
organic layer. The radiation either strengthens the
photoresist or weakens it. The uncovered oxide on
the exposed photoresist is removed using
Hydrochloric acid. The remaining photoresist is
removed using hot Sulphuric acid and the resultant
is an oxide pattern on the substrate, which is used
as a mask.
• Step 4: The fourth step involves removal of the
unused silicon or etching. It involves removal of a
bulk of the substrate either using wet etching or
dry etching. In wet etching the substrate is
immersed in a liquid solution of a chemical
etchant, which etches out or removes the exposed
substrate either equally in all directions(isotropic
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etchant) or in a particular direction(anisotropic
etchant). Popularly used etchants are HNA
(Hydrofluoric acid, Nitric acid and Acetic acid)
and KOH(Potassium Hydroxide).
• Step 5: The fifth step involves the joining of two
or more wafers to produce a multi layered wafer or
a 3 D structure. It can be done using fusion
bonding which involves direct bonding between
the layers or using anodic bonding.
• Step 6: The 6th step involves the assembling and
integrating the MEMs device on the single silicon
chip.
• Step 7: The 7th step involves packaging of the
whole assembly to ensure protection from outer
environment, proper connection to the
environment, minimum electrical interference.
Commonly used packages are metal can package
and ceramic window package. The chips are
bonded to the surface either using wire bonding
technique or using flip chip technology where the
chips are bonded to the surface using an adhesive
material which melts on heating, forming electrical
connections between the chip and the substrate.
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MEMs Fabrication using Surface
Micromachining
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• The rest of the steps are similar as in the bulk
micromachining technique.
Packaging :
The proper operation of MEMS devices depends
critically upon the ‘clean’ environment provided by
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the package and is considered an enabler for the
commercialisation of MEMS. Packaging of
microsensors presents special problems as part of the
sensor requires environmental access while the rest
may require protection from environmental
conditions and handling Although there is no
generic package for a MEMS device, the package
should:
• provide protection and be robust enough to
withstand its operating environment
• allow for environmental access and connections to
physical domain (optical fibres, fluid feed lines etc.)
• minimize electrical interference effects from
inside and outside the device
• dissipate generated heat and withstand high
operating temperatures (where necessary)
• minimize stress from external loading
• handle power from electrical connection leads
without signal disruption
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MEMS IN THE MANUFACTURING
OF PRESSURE SENSORS:
A pressure sensor is a device for pressure
measurement of gases or liquids. Pressure is an
expression of the force required to stop a fluid from
expanding, and is usually stated in terms of force per
unit area. A pressure sensor usually acts as
a transducer; it generates a signal as a function of the
pressure imposed. For the purposes of this article,
such a signal is electrical.
Pressure sensors are used for control and monitoring
in thousands of everyday applications. Pressure
sensors can also be used to indirectly measure other
variables such as fluid/gas flow, speed, water level,
and altitude. Pressure sensors can alternatively be
called pressure transducers, pressure
transmitters, pressure senders, pressure
indicators, piezometers and manometers, among
other names.
1.WHAT IS A MEMS PRESSURE
SENSOR?
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The MEMS pressure sensor is a MEMS
sensing device that can detect and measure the
external stimuli such as pressure, and then it can
response to the measured pressure by having some
mechanical movements, for example rotation of
motor, to compensate the pressure change.
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MEMS Pressure Sensor Construction
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APPLICATIONS OF MEMS:
Automotive domain:
1. Airbag Systems
2. Vehicle Security Systems
3. Intertial Brake Lights
4. Headlight Leveling
5. Rollover Detection
6. Automatic Door Locks
7. Active Suspension
Consumer domain:
1. Appliances
2. Sports Training Devices
3. Computer Peripherals
4. Car and Personal Navigation Devices
5. Active Subwoofers
Industrial domain:
1. Earthquake Detection and Gas Shutoff
2. Machine Health
3. Shock and Tilt Sensing
Military:
1. Tanks
2. Planes
3. Equipment for Soldiers
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Biotechnology:
1. Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) microsystems
for DNA amplification and identification
2. Micromachined Scanning Tunneling Microscopes
(STMs)
3. Biochips for detection of hazardous chemical and
biological agents
4. Microsystems for high-throughput drug screening
and selection
5. Bio-MEMS in medical and health related
technologies from Lab-On-Chip to biosensor &
chemosensor.
The commercial applications include:
1. Inkjet printers, which use piezo-electrics or
thermal bubble ejection to deposit ink on paper.
2. Accelerometers in modern cars for a large number
of purposes including airbag deployment
in collisions.
3. Accelerometers in consumer electronics devices
such as game controllers, personal media players /
cell phones and a number of Digital Cameras.
4. In PCs to park the hard disk head when free-fall is
detected, to prevent damage and data loss.
5. MEMS gyroscopes used in modern cars and other
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applications to detect yaw; e.g. to deploy a
roll over bar or trigger dynamic stability control.
6. Silicon pressure sensors e.g. car tire pressure
sensors, and disposable blood pressure sensors.
7. Displays e.g. the DMD chip in a projector based
on DLP technology has on its surface
several hundred thousand micromirrors.
8. Optical switching technology, which is, used for
switching technology and alignment for
data communications.
9. Interferometric modulator display (IMOD)
applications in consumer electronics (primarily
displays for mobile devices).
10. Improved performance from inductors and
capacitors due the advent of the RF-MEMS
technology
MEMS devices:
Few examples of real MEMS products are,
1. Adaptive Optics for Ophthalmic Applications
2. Optical Cross Connects
3. Air Bag Accelerometers
4. Pressure Sensors
5. Mirror Arrays for Televisions and Displays
6. High Performance Steerable Micromirrors
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7. RF MEMS Devices
8. Disposable Medical Devices
9. High Force, High Displacement Electrostatic
Actuators
10. MEMS Devices for Secure Communications
MEMS devices used in Space exploration field
include:
1. Accelerometers and gyroscopes for inertial
navigation
2. Pressure sensors
3. RF switches and tunable filters for
communication
4. Tunable mirror arrays for adaptive optics
5. Micro-power sources and turbines
6. Propulsion and attitude control
7. Bio-reactors and Bio-sensors, Microfluidics
8. Thermal control
9. Atomic clocks
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Advantages and disadvantages of
MEMS
Advantages of MEMS:
• Extremely scalable in manufacturing, resulting
in very low unit costs when mass produced
• MEMS sensors possess extremely high
sensitivity
• MEMS switches and actuators can attain very
high frequencies
• MEMS devices require very low power
consumption
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• MEMS can be readily integrated with
microelectronics to achieve embedded
mechatronic systems
• Scaling effects at microscopic levels can be
leveraged to achieve designs and dynamic
mechanisms otherwise not possible at macro-
scales
Disadvantages of MEMS:
• Very expensive during the research and
development stage for any new MEMS design
or devices
• Very expensive upfront setup cost for
fabrication cleanrooms and foundry facilities
• Fabrication and assembly unit costs can be
very high for low quantities. Therefore,
MEMS are not suitable for niche applications,
unless cost is not an issue
• Testing equipment to characterise the quality
and performance can also be expensive
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Technological advancement of
MEMS:
The first laboratory demonstration of MEMS
devices came about in the 1960’s in the form of a
MEMS pressure sensor. Academic research gained
momentum in the 1980’s, while the commercial
development and manufacturing took off in the
1990’s. Today, everyone carries MEMS devices on
themselves in the form of smartphones, smart
watches and fitness trackers. In the past, an
aeronautic gyroscopic system used to determine roll,
pitch and yaw in the cockpit of aircrafts weighed
several kilograms and measured several inches in
length, whereas nowadays, MEMS gyroscopes in
our smartphones weigh less than a milligram and is
equivalent in size to a grain of sand. With
miniaturisation in size, also comes significant
reduction in manufacturing cost and improved scales
of economy. This is like the continued
miniaturisation and reduction in cost seen in the
semiconductor industry.
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mechanical counterparts simply cannot physically
achieve. For instance, a MEMS resonating strain
gauge consumes micro-watts of power while
offering sensitivity in the nano strain range. This
compares with the hundreds of milli-watts of power
consumption for conventional foil strain gauges that
can only measure down to a few micro strains at the
best. Another example is that conventional
microbalances are limited to a precision of a few
tens to a few hundreds of micrograms whereas
MEMS microbalances can get down to pico grams
or even femto grams of resolution.
Areas of research:
▪ Micro engineering methods of microsystems and
micro mechanisms fabrication
▪ Nano engineering and nano structurization of solid
state body surface
▪ Vacuum nano/microelectronics
▪ Microfluidics, lab-on-a-chips, analytical
microsystems
▪ Intelligent micro reactors, chemical micro-
instrumentation
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▪ Micromechanical sensors of physical, chemical
and biochemical quantities
▪ "Intelligent" miniature sensors systems
▪ Computer controlled embedded systems
▪ Computer aided electrical and optical biochemical
signal processing.
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