MODULE-5

Unit 10: Case Studies

Magnetic actuators
Magnetic actuators and sensors use magnetic fields to produce and sense motion. Magnetic actuators
allow an electrical signal to move small or large objects. To obtain an electrical signal that senses the
motion, magnetic sensors are often used.

Since computers have inputs and outputs that are electrical signals, magnetic actuators and sensors are
ideal for computer control of motion. Hence magnetic actuators and sensors are increasing in popularity.
Motion control that was in the past accomplished by manual command is now increasingly carried out
by computers with magnetic sensors as their input interface and magnetic actuators as their output
interface.

Both magnetic actuators and magnetic sensors are energy conversion devices. Both involve the energy
stored in static, transient, or low-frequency magnetic fields. Devices that use electric fields or high-
frequency electromagnetic fields are not considered to be magnetic devices.

The operation of the magnetic actuator depends on the interaction between the field from an
electromagnet and a static field. To produce this static field, it is important to use the right material. In
MEMS, permanent magnets have become the favorite because they have a very good scaling factor and
they retain their magnetization even when there is no external field (meaning that they need not be
continuously magnetized when they are in use).

Figure 10.1: Block diagram of a magnetic actuator

Input electrical energy in the form of voltage and current is converted to magnetic energy. The magnetic
energy creates a magnetic force, which produces mechanical motion over a limited range. Thus
magnetic actuators convert input electrical energy into output mechanical energy. As mentioned in the
figure caption, the blocks are often nonlinear.

Typical magnetic actuators include

 Electrohydraulic valves in airplanes, tractors, robots, automobiles, and other mobile or
stationary equipment
 Fuel injectors in engines of automobiles, trucks, and locomotives
 Biomedical prosthesis devices for artificial hearts, limbs, ears, and other organs
 Head positioners for computer disk drives
 Loudspeakers.

Dr. Chetan Byrappa, Assistant Professor Department of Mechanical Engineering, B.I.T

  Contactors, circuit breakers, and relays to control electric motors and other equipment
 Switchgear and relays for electric power transmission and distribution

A MEMS magnetic actuator is a device that uses the microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) to
convert an electric current into a mechanical output by employing the well-known Lorentz Force
Equation or the theory of Magnetism.

Figure 10.2: Principle of magnetic actuation

The principle of magnetic actuation is based on the Lorentz Force Equation.

When a current-carrying conductor is placed in a static magnetic field, the field produced around the
conductor interacts with the static field to produce a force. This force can be used to cause the
displacement of a mechanical structure. A typical MEMS actuator is shown above. For a single turn of
circular coil, the equations that govern its operation are

The H-field from a circular conductor

The force produced by the interaction of the flux densities

The deflection of a mechanical structure for actuation depends on certain parameters of the device. For
actuation, there has to be an applied force and a restoring force. The applied force is the force
represented by the equation above, while the restoring force is fixed by the spring constant of the
moving structure.
The applied force depends on both the field from the coils and the magnet. The remanence value of the
magnet, its volume and position from the coils all contribute to its effect on the applied Force. Whereas
the number of turns of coil, its size (radius) and the amount of current passing through it determines its
effect on the Applied Force. The spring constant depends on the Young's Modulus of the moving
structure, and its length, width and thickness.

Dr. Chetan Byrappa, Assistant Professor Department of Mechanical Engineering, B.I.T

 Figure 10.3: Deflection of mechanical structure

Advantages of Magnetic Actuators

 High actuation force and stroke (displacement)

 Direct, fully linear transduction (in the case of electrodynamic actuation)
 Bi-directional actuation
 Contactless remote actuation
 Low-voltage actuation
 A figure of merit for actuators is the density of field energy that can be stored in the gap between
the rotor and stator. Magnetic actuation has a potentially high energy density
Issues with magnetic actuation

 High-power dissipation. This is a major problem for magnetic MEMS, but work is underway
to circumvent this.
 Fabrication of the coil
 Integration of the micro magnet into the MEMS device
 Process-material compatibility
 Integra ability into the overall microfabrication process (maintain cost and throughput)
 So that pre-existing processes in the fabrication of the MEMS device will not be tampered with,
deposition temperatures and post-deposition treatment/conditions must be tolerable. Also, the
micro magnet must be able to withstand any chemical treatment that will come after its
deposition
 Issues with magnetization (One may want to have more than one direction of magnetization;
this creates a problem)

Blood Pressure Sensor

Advancement of healthcare has been rapid due to phenomenal growth in engineering. The combination
of medicine and engineering has been a boom to the mankind; this combination is called biomedical
Engineering. Biomedical engineering is the field of engineering that creates such medical instruments
which help us to measure, record and transmit data to or from human body. In biomedical engineering
various suitable smart sensors is used and which provides real time monitoring of health parameters
like temperature and blood pressure of human body.

Dr. Chetan Byrappa, Assistant Professor Department of Mechanical Engineering, B.I.T

Figure 10.4: Schematic diagram of major parts of an invasive blood pressure sensor monitoring
system.

Prior to the use of silicon MEMS pressure sensors, blood pressure is measured with expensive and
contamination-prone transducers that bears high costs. These devices, based on silicon-beam
technology, are fragile and easy to damage. The sensor can be made to contact patients’ blood. Since
the cost is high, each sensor must be cleaned and reused after each use. This requires sterilization, which
is susceptible to contamination and contributes to increased hospital costs. Silicon MEMS technology
opens the opportunity for low-cost, disposable blood pressure sensor.

Today, blood pressure monitoring devices that are implantable, wireless networked, or self-powered
are being developed actively. Technologies have taken tremendous stride with the advancement of new
processing technologies (DRIE), new wafer sizes, and perhaps many new innovations on the
manufacturing floor.

Figure 10.5: Schematic diagram of a commercial blood pressure sensor.

Nova Sensor was successful in developing a classic pressure sensor for this application, even with
relatively crude technology from today’s perspective

Dr. Chetan Byrappa, Assistant Professor Department of Mechanical Engineering, B.I.T

Microphone
A microphone, colloquially nicknamed mic or mike, is a transducer that converts sound into
an electrical signal. A microphone is a low-cost component of many consumer electronics products,
including cell phones, computers, and game consoles. The microphone market is a great study for
MEMS technology and commercialization, since there are strong established products that are
competitive, even in terms of size and price. The successful creation of a mass market MEMS
microphone is evidence of exceptional technical, processing, and market savvy.
The MEMS (Micro Electrical-Mechanical System) microphone is also called a microphone chip or
silicon microphone. A pressure-sensitive diaphragm is etched directly into a silicon wafer by MEMS
processing techniques, and is usually accompanied with integrated preamplifier. Most MEMS
microphones are variants of the condenser microphone design. Digital MEMS microphones have built
in analog-to-digital converter (ADC) circuits on the same CMOS chip making the chip a digital
microphone and so more readily integrated with modern digital products.
The application of MEMS (microelectro-mechanical systems) technology to microphones has led to the
development of small microphones with very high performance. MEMS microphones offer high SNR,
low power consumption, good sensitivity, and are available in very small packages that are fully
compatible with surface mount assembly processes. MEMS microphones exhibit almost no change in
performance after reflow soldering and have excellent temperature characteristics.

MEMS microphones use acoustic sensors that are fabricated on semiconductor production lines using
silicon wafers and highly automated processes. Layers of different materials are deposited on top of a
silicon wafer and then the unwanted material is then etched away, creating a moveable membrane and
a fixed backplate over a cavity in the base wafer. The sensor backplate is a stiff perforated structure
that allows air to move easily through it, while the membrane is a thin solid structure that flexes in
response to the change in air pressure caused by sound waves.

Figure 10.6: Cross-section diagram of a MEMS microphone sensor

Changes in air pressure created by sound waves cause the thin membrane to flex while the thicker
backplate remains stationary as the air moves through its perforations. The movement of the membrane
creates a change in the amount of capacitance between the membrane and the backplate, which is
translated into an electrical signal. The main driver for the introduction of MEMS microphones is
undoubtedly its ability to withstand standard lead-free solder reflow profiles without impacting
performance. This and manufacturing cost savings achieved by using auto pick-and-place tools
overcame the barriers of supplanting the well-established electret microphones. Other advantages are
the ability to be integrated with other electronics in one production process, reliability due to better
vibration and temperature resistance and directionality when using arrays.

Dr. Chetan Byrappa, Assistant Professor Department of Mechanical Engineering, B.I.T

Acceleration sensors

An accelerometer is an electromechanical device that will measure acceleration forces. These forces
may be static, like the constant force of gravity pulling at your feet, or they could be dynamic - caused
by moving or vibrating the accelerometer. The first micro machined accelerometer was designed in
1979 at Stanford University, but it took over 15 years before such devices became accepted mainstream
products for large volume applications. In the 1990s MEMS accelerometers revolutionised the
automotive-air bag system industry. Since then they have enabled unique features and applications
ranging from hard-disk protection on laptops to game controllers. More recently, the same sensor-core
technology has become available in fully integrated, full-featured devices suitable for industrial
applications. Micro machined accelerometers are a highly enabling technology with a huge commercial
potential. They provide lower power, compact and robust sensing. Multiple sensors are often combined
to provide multi-axis sensing and more accurate data.

Basics of MEMS Accelerometer

There are many different ways to make an accelerometer. Some accelerometers use the piezoelectric
effect - they contain microscopic crystal structures that get stressed by accelerative forces, which causes
a voltage to be generated. Another way to do it is by sensing changes in capacitance. This seminar is
focused on the latter. Capacitive interfaces have several attractive features. In most micromachining
technologies no or minimal additional processing is needed. Capacitors can operate both as sensors and
actuators. They have excellent sensitivity and the transduction mechanism is intrinsically insensitive to
temperature. Capacitive sensing is independent of the base material and relies on the variation of
capacitance when the geometry of a capacitor is changing. Neglecting the fringing effect near the edges,
the parallel-plate capacitance.

Typical MEMS accelerometer is composed of movable proof mass with plates that is attached through
a mechanical suspension system to a reference frame, as shown in below figure. Movable plates and
fixed outer plates represent capacitors. The deflection of proof mass is measured using the capacitance
difference. The free-space (air) capacitances between the movable plate and two stationary outer plates
C1 and C2 are functions of the corresponding displacements x1 and x2:

Figure 10.7: MEMS Accelerometer Sensor

MEMS Gyroscopes
A gyroscope is a device used for measuring or maintaining orientation and angular velocity. It is a
spinning wheel or disc in which the axis of rotation is free to assume any orientation by itself. When

Dr. Chetan Byrappa, Assistant Professor Department of Mechanical Engineering, B.I.T

rotating, the orientation of this axis is unaffected by tilting or rotation of the mounting, according to
the conservation of angular momentum.
Gyroscopes based on other operating principles also exist, such as the microchip-packaged MEMS
gyroscopes found in electronic devices, solid-state ring lasers, fibre optic gyroscopes, and the extremely
sensitive quantum gyroscope.
Silicon micro machined gyros are fabricated on the basis of coupled resonators. MEMS gyroscopes are
making significant progress towards high performance and low power consumption. They are mass
produced at low cost with small form factor to suit the consumer electronics market. MEMS gyroscopes
use the Coriolis Effect to measure the angular rate, as shown in Figure

Figure 10.8: Coriolis effect

When a mass (m) is moving in direction v→ and angular rotation velocity Ω→ is applied, then the mass
will experience a force in the direction of the arrow as a result of the Coriolis force. And the resulting
physical displacement caused by the Coriolis force is then read from a capacitive sensing structure.

Two masses oscillate and move constantly in opposite directions (below figure). When angular velocity
is applied, the Coriolis force on each mass also acts in opposite directions, which result in capacitance
change. This differential value in capacitance is proportional to the angular velocity Ω > and is then
converted into output voltage for analog gyroscopes or LSBs for digital gyroscopes.

Figure 10.9: When angular velocity is applied.

When linear acceleration is applied to two masses, they move in the same direction. Therefore, there
will be no capacitance difference detected. The gyroscope will output zero-rate level of voltage or LSBs,
which shows that the MEMS gyroscopes are not sensitive to linear acceleration such as tilt, shock, or
vibration.

MEMS gyroscopes can measure angular velocity. Digital cameras use gyroscopes to detect hand
rotation for image stabilization. A yaw rate gyroscope can be used in cars to activate the electronic
stability control (ESC) brake system to prevent accidents from happening when the car is making a
sharp turn. And a roll gyroscope can be used to activate airbags when a rollover condition happens.

Dr. Chetan Byrappa, Assistant Professor Department of Mechanical Engineering, B.I.T

A yaw rate gyroscope can be used in cars to measure the orientation to keep the car moving on a digital
map when GPS signal is lost. This is called car dead-reckoning backup system. The yaw rate gyroscope
can also be used for indoor robot control. Multiple inertial measurement units (IMUs) can be mounted
on arms and legs for body tracking and monitoring. The IMU can also be used for air mouse application,
motion gaming platforms and personal navigation devices with the integration of magnetometer and
GPS receiver.

Figure 10.10: Gyroscope configuration

Applications of gyroscopes include inertial navigation systems, such as in the Hubble telescope, or
inside the steel hull of a submerged submarine. Most available MEMS gyroscopes use a tuning fork
configuration. Due to their precision, gyroscopes are also used in gyro theodolites to maintain direction
in tunnel mining. Gyroscopes can be used to construct gyrocompasses, which complement or replace
magnetic compasses (in ships, aircraft and spacecraft, vehicles in general), to assist in stability (bicycles,
motorcycles, and ships) or be used as part of an inertial guidance system. MEMS gyroscopes are popular
in some consumer electronics, such as smartphones.

MEMS Product Development

Developing a MEMS product suitable for industry and consumer market is more challenging than
making a laboratory device. A product must offer superior performance and cost advantages to displace
existing products and fend off potential competitors. As difficult as it is to satisfy stringent performance
requirements, such performance characteristics must not change with time, ambient conditions (e.g.,
temperature, pressure, humidity, electromagnetic wave), or history of use.

Further, a product must be developed fast enough to capture market opportunities. The development
effort must also allow economic return for investors, since MEMS projects often require moderate to
large investments to commence.

The focus of this book is to provide students with tools to deal with technology risks. However,
understanding the market and financial perspectives of a product development is crucial for innovators.

Dr. Chetan Byrappa, Assistant Professor Department of Mechanical Engineering, B.I.T

Performance and Accuracy

MEMS devices rarely enter the market as a completely new product category. Often, the device must
compete with existing products. This is the case for blood pressure sensors, accelerometers, gyro, ink
jet printers, digital light processors, and resonators.

From successful MEMS products, we can learn the fact that MEMS product must offer unique
functional advantages, rather than mere differentiation. Early blood pressure sensors lowered the cost
of such sensors by 10. Further, it offered miniaturization and reduced hospital labor costs (associated
with cleaning sensors). MEMS accelerometer products reduced the sizes and the cost by at least 10 _
margin over existing products.

For sensor and actuator devices, accuracy is an utmost concern. A sensor device must simply meet
requirements of detection limit, sensitivity, linearity, immunity to noise and environmental changes,
and immunity to crosstalks. The design of MEMS must allow such issues to be addressed.

Yet a hidden source of design complication that affects performance and accuracy is process
nonideality. Process is rarely perfect, despite the best human intentions and efforts. A few examples are
given below:
 Lithography process with multiple layers may exhibit registration error.
 Mask generation may carry finite error due to the pattern generation process.
 Pattern transfer may not be 100% accurate due to undercut.
 Sidewalls made using the DRIE process is not perfectly vertical nor smooth.

Though process nonideality rarely causes yield loss directly, they are nonetheless obstacles for achieved
desired performance, accuracy, uniformity, and stability. Understanding these practical elements is
important for achieving high yield and uniformity.

Repeatability and Reliability

The performance of MEMS products, or any product for that matter, must be known (on the basis of
each individual device), calibrated, uniform, and unchanging over time. If a performance characteristic
changes under certain circumstance, it must change with a known trend and/or the degree of change
must be minimized. The performance of the MEMS devices must be measured with harsh standards,
including wide temperature range, electromagnetic interference, and rough handling (e.g., shocks)
during assembly and use. MEMS devices are subjected to rough handling and operational conditions.
Military operations, for example, demand wide temperature, harsh shocks, and particles and humidity
in the environment. Even commercial products must be subjected to rough handling and high
temperature processes during the packaging steps.

All commercial MEMS products must strive to have high stability. These products must have extremely
low sensitivity to temperature while striving to satisfy the widest temperature variation range possible
to offer broad appeal. Accelerometers are packaged to maintain pressure and critical damping, and to
minimize moisture and temperature variations. Gyros, resonators, and DLPs are encapsulated to
maintain stability. These encapsulation methods are costly (from the perspectives of fabrication, design,
and circuitry) and challenging (from the perspectives of material science and intellectual property).

Dr. Chetan Byrappa, Assistant Professor Department of Mechanical Engineering, B.I.T

Managing the Cost of MEMS Products

One can loosely argue that the advantage of microelectronic-style microfabrication is best utilized
when the volume of products is large. Indeed, many successful MEMS products are used in high-volume
consumer applications.

A common misconception about MEMS is that “batch fabrication reduces the cost of MEMS.” In
reality, there is significant setup costs for a MEMS project and fixed-cost for maintaining a MEMS
fabrication facility. The batch fabrication can result in reduced cost of chip or products only when there
is a significant volume demand.

For volume products, there is always pressure to reduce the cost of individual units. This pressure can
come from the system integrator, from competing technologies, or from competitors within the MEMS
field. It could come from existing competitors, imitators, or future challengers. It is very important to
be mindful of strategies for reducing the cost.

The cost of developing the MEMS hardware can be divided into two major categories: the cost of
fabrication and the cost of packaging and testing. Often times, the cost for packaging and testing is more
than the cost of fabrication.

Market Uncertainties, Investment, and Competition

The fundamental objective of a business decision to make a MEMS product is to make return on
investment (ROI) for the investor. For many developers and innovators of MEMS, failure to justify ROI
means you will never get sufficient resources to even start to develop enterprise grade technology. As
such, there must be clear paths of establishing technology, making revenue and profit. There must be a
clear understanding of the market opportunity, costs (not just manufacturing cost) and a business model.
Consumer products have high volume; however, the cost must be extremely low. Military and industry
products may tolerate higher prices, but their volume is generally lower.

The risks of a MEMS product broadly involve technology risk, market risk, and financial risks. The
technical risks for making a MEMS product include the ability to satisfy performance characteristics,
perform beyond other technology competitions, and establish the barriers for future competitors and
challenges (e.g., through establishment of intellectual properties).

Market risks include the uncertainty of an anticipated problem actually becoming a reality, and the
reactions from competitors and imitators.

There is significant financial risk and obligation. The cost for setting up a batch run—including that of
design, mask making, fine-tuning fabrication process, and calibration—should not be underestimated.
A large area, high-resolution mask plate can cost several thousand to tens of thousands of dollars to
produce. The establishment of a microfabrication facility can cost tens of millions of dollars, due to
cleanliness requirement, automated equipment, and environmental and safety protocols. Day-to-day
operation of a clean room facility requires significant investment to cover consumables for
environmental stabilization (e.g., cooling water and air) and processes (e.g., high purity processing
gases for thin film deposition and etching).

Dr. Chetan Byrappa, Assistant Professor Department of Mechanical Engineering, B.I.T