ABOUT MEMS:

Imagine a machine so small that it is imperceptible to the human eye.  Imagine working machines
no bigger than a grain of pollen.  Imagine thousands of these machines batch fabricated on a
single piece of silicon, for just a few pennies each.  Imagine a world where gravity and inertia are
no longer important, but atomic forces and surface science dominate. Imagine a silicon chip with
thousands of microscopic mirrors working in unison, enabling the all optical network and
removing the bottlenecks from the global telecommunications infrastructure. We are now
entering the microdomain, a world occupied by an explosive technology known as MEMS.  A
world of challenge and opportunity, where  traditional engineering concepts are turned upside
down, and the realm of the "possible" is totally redefined.
MEMS are quietly changing the way we live, in ways that we might never imagine.  The device
that senses your car has been in an accident, and fires the airbag is a MEMS device.  Most new
cars have over a dozen MEMS devices, making your car safer, more energy efficient, and more
environmentally friendly. MEMS are finding their way into a variety of medical devices, and
everyday consumer products.

What is MEMS Technology?

• Micro - Small size, microfabricated structures

• Electro - Electrical signal /control
• Mechanical - Mechanical functionality
• Systems - Structures, Devices, Systems Control

Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) is the integration of mechanical elements, sensors,

actuators, and electronics on a common silicon substrate through microfabrication technology.
While the electronics are fabricated using integrated circuit (IC) process sequences (e.g., CMOS,
Bipolar, or BICMOS processes), the micromechanical components are fabricated using
compatible "micromachining" processes that selectively etch away parts of the silicon wafer or
add new structural layers to form the mechanical and electromechanical devices. MEMS
promises to revolutionize nearly every product category by bringing together silicon-based
microelectronics with micromachining technology, making possible the realization of
complete systems-on-a-chip. MEMS is an enabling technology allowing the development of
smart products, augmenting the computational ability of microelectronics with the perception
and control capabilities of microsensors and microactuators and expanding the space of possible
designs and applications.

Microelectronic integrated circuits can be thought of as the "brains" of a system and MEMS
augments this decision-making capability with "eyes" and "arms", to allow Microsystems to
sense and control the environment. Sensors gather information from the environment through
measuring mechanical, thermal, biological, chemical, optical, and magnetic phenomena. The
electronics then process the information derived from the sensors and through some decision
making capability direct the actuators to respond by moving, positioning, regulating, pumping,
and filtering, thereby controlling the environment for some desired outcome or purpose.
MEMS technology can be implemented using a number of different materials and manufacturing
techniques; the choice of which will depend on the device being created and the market sector in
which it has to operate.

Electron micrscope image of a

MEMS electromechanical lock.

Embedded digital MEMS microphone
ENERGY DOMAINS FOR MEMS:

• Thermal (temperature, heat and heat flow)

• Mechanical (force, pressure, velocity, acceleration, position)
• Chemical (concentration, pH, reaction rate)
• Magnetic (field intensity, flux density, magnetization)
• Radiant (intensity, wavelength, polarization, phase)
• Electrical (voltage, charge, current)

MEMS APPLICATION:

Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) is the integration of mechanical elements, sensors,

actuators, and electronics on a common silicon substrate through the use of micro fabrication
technology.

SENSORS:

A sensor is a device that measures information from a surrounding environment and provides an
electrical output signal in response to the parameter it measured.

 MEMS based pressure sensor

The basic principle of the pressure device is that some external pressure deflects
the upper plate of the sensor which results in a change to its capacitance, as
detected by the readout circuit. The system behavior basically depends on the
 shape of the deflected upper plate, since it determines the pressure device
capacitance.

ACCELEROMETERS:

The common sensing principle of the accelerometers is capacitive. An acceleration in the lateral
direction deflects the proof mass that is suspended by folded springs in the x-sensing element.
One set of electrodes is attached to the proof mass and moves with acceleration. These movable
electrodes form capacitors with two sets of fixed electrodes opposing them with a small air gap
in between. The differential capacitance signal is evaluated by an ASIC (Application Specific
Integrated Unit) which is electrically connected to the sensor by chip-to-chip wire bonds. A
change between two capacitors is detected and transformed into a corresponding analog voltage
by a capacitance/ voltage converter.

ACTUATORS:
  Electrostatic Actuators:

In this device Actuation takes place between two electrodes in which the mobile parts moves
along the electric field paths. This is the most simple actuation technique you can imagine,
though the architectures used are often not so simple to optimize it. the exact movement of the
mobile parts is ruled by the electric field path and the mechanical constrains of the structure. So,
tunable capacitor will translate along a straight line, micromirrors will rotate around their anchor
axis, etc. The actuation is not always really straight, but it is as well as possible. This technique is
probably the most efficient in terms of forces, and so required voltage.

MEMS FLOW SENSORS:

MEMS flow sensors can be fluid-dependent flow or fluid-independent. In a very basic form,
fluid-dependent flow sensors measure the flow rate by heating a fluid ‘upstream’ and then
recording its temperature ‘downstream’. The flow rate is proportional to the temperature
difference and transit time of the two actions. Fluid-independent flow sensors measure pressure
or force exerted on an object by the fluid.

There are plenty of applications for MEMS. As a breakthrough technology, MEMS is building
synergy between previously unrelated fields such as biology and microelectronics, many new
MEMS and Nanotechnology applications will emerge, expanding beyond that which is currently
identified or known.

MEMS technology finds applications in the below general domains:

 Automotive domain:

 Airbag Systems 
 Vehicle Security Systems 
 Intertial Brake Lights 
 Headlight Leveling 
 Rollover Detection 
 Automatic Door Lock
 Active Suspension

 Consumer domain:

 Appliances 
 Sports Training Devices 
 Computer Peripherals 
 Car and Personal Navigation Devices 
 Active Subwoofers

 Industrial domain:

 Earthquake Detection and Gas Shutoff 

 Machine Health 
 Shock and Tilt Sensing

 Military:
  Tanks 
 Planes 
 Equipment for Soldiers

 Biotechnology:

 Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) microsystems for DNA amplification and

identification.
 Micromachined Scanning Tunneling Microscopes (STMs) 
 Biochips for detection of hazardous chemical and biological agents 
 Microsystems for high-throughput drug screening and selection
 Bio-MEMS in medical and health related technologies from Lab-On-Chip to biosensor &
chemosensor.

 The commercial applications include:

 Inkjet printers, which use piezo-electrics or thermal bubble ejection to deposit ink on
paper.
 Accelerometers in modern cars for a large number of purposes including airbag
deployment in collisions.
 Accelerometers in consumer electronics devices such as game controllers, personal media
players/cell phones and a number of Digital Cameras. 
 In PCs to park the hard disk head when free-fall is detected, to prevent damage and data
loss.
 MEMS gyroscopes used in modern cars and other applications to detect yaw; e.g. to
deploy a rollover bar or trigger dynamic stability control.
 Silicon pressure sensors e.g. car tire pressure sensors, and disposable blood pressure
sensors.
 Displays e.g. the DMD chip in a projector based on DLP technology has on its surface
several hundred thousand micromirrors.
 Optical switching technology, which is, used for switching technology and alignment for
data communications.
 Interferometric modulator display (IMOD) applications in consumer electronics
(primarily displays for mobile devices). 
 Improved performance from inductors and capacitors due the advent of the RF-MEMS
technology

Materials for MEMS manufacturing:

1. Silicon
Silicon is the material used to create most integrated circuits used in consumer electronics in the
modern world. The economies of scale, ready availability of cheap high-quality materials and
ability to incorporate electronic functionality make silicon attractive for a wide variety of MEMS
applications. Silicon also has significant advantages engendered through its material properties.
In single crystal form, silicon is an almost perfect Hookean material, meaning that when it is
flexed there is virtually nohysteresis and hence almost no energy dissipation. As well as making
for highly repeatable motion, this also makes silicon very reliable as it suffers very
little fatigue and can have service lifetimes in the range of billions to trillions of cycles without
breaking. The basic techniques for producing all silicon based MEMS devices are deposition of
material layers, patterning of these layers by photolithographyand then etching to produce the
required shapes.

2. Polymers

Even though the electronics industry provides an economy of scale for the silicon industry,
crystalline silicon is still a complex and relatively expensive material to produce. Polymers on
the other hand can be produced in huge volumes, with a great variety of material characteristics.
MEMS devices can be made from polymers by processes such as injection molding, embossing
or stereolithigraphy and are especially well suited to microfluidic applications such as disposable
blood testing cartridges,

3. Metals

Metals can also be used to create MEMS elements. While metals do not have some of the
advantages displayed by silicon in terms of mechanical properties, when used within their
limitations, metals can exhibit very high degrees of reliability. Metals can be deposited by
electroplating, evaporation, and sputtering processes. Commonly used metals
include gold, nickel, aluminium, copper, chromium, titanium, tungsten,platinum, and silver.

MEMS FABRICATION PROCESS:

The fabrication process is usually a structured sequence of three basic processes:
1. Deposition:

Deposition is a key building block in that it is the ability to deposit thin films of material (for
subsequent local etching). MEMS deposition technology is classified in two groups:

Depositions resulting from chemical reactions: chemical vapor deposition, electrodeposition,

epitaxy, and themal oxidation. These processes exploit the creation of solid materials directly
from chemical reactions in gas and/or liquid compositions or with the substrate material. The
solid material is usually not the only product formed by the reaction. Byproducts can include
gases, liquids and even other solids.

Depositions resulting from physical reaction: physical vapor deposition, casting. The material
deposited is physically moved on to the substrate (a chemical byproduct is not created).

2. Patterning:

Patterning in MEMS is the transfer of a pattern into a material.

4. Lithography

Lithography in MEMS context is typically the transfer of a pattern into a photosensitive material
by selective exposure to a radiation source such as light. A photosensitive material is a material
that experiences a change in its physical properties when exposed to a radiation source. If a
photosensitive material is selectively exposed to radiation (e.g. by masking some of the
radiation) the pattern of the radiation on the material is transferred to the material exposed, as the
properties of the exposed and unexposed regions differs.
This exposed region can then be removed or treated providing a mask for the underlying
substrate.

3. Etching processes:
 In order to form a functional MEMS structure on a substrate it is necessary to etch the thin films
previously deposited and/or the substrate itself. In general, there are two classes of etching
processes:

5. Wet etching

Wet chemical etching consists in a selective removal of material by dipping a substrate into a
solution that can dissolve it. Due to the chemical nature of this etching process, a good selectivity
can often be obtained, which means that the etching rate of the target material is considerably
higher than that of the mask material if selected carefully.

6. Dry etching:

The material is sputtered or dissolved using reactive ions or a vapor phase etchant.

MEMS MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGIES

There are several different broad categories of MEMS technologies, outlined below:

1. Bulk Micromachining:
 Bulk micromachining is a fabrication technique which builds mechanical elements by starting
with a silicon wafer, and then etching away unwanted parts, and being left with useful
mechanical devices.  Typically, the wafer is photo patterned, leaving a protective layer on the
parts of the wafer that you want to keep. The wafer is then submersed into a liquid etchant, like
potassium hydroxide, which eats away any exposed silicon.  This is a relatively simple and
inexpensive fabrication technology, and is well suited for applications which do not require
much complexity, and which are price sensitive. Today, almost all pressure sensors are built with
Bulk Micromachining.Bulk Micromachined pressure sensors offer several advantages over
traditional pressure sensors.  They cost less, are highly reliable, manufacturable, and there is very
good repeatability between devices. All new cars on the market today have several
micromachined pressure sensors, typically used to measure manifold pressure in the engine. The
small size and high reliability of micromachined pressure sensors make them ideal for a variety
of medical applications as well.

2. Surface Micromachining:

While Bulk micromachining creates devices by etching into a wafer, Surface Micromachining
builds devices up from the wafer layer-by-layer. A typical Surface Micromachining process is a
repetitive sequence of depositing thin films on a wafer, photopatterning the films, and then
etching the patterns into the films. In order to create moving, functioning machines, these layers
are alternating thin films of a structural material (typically silicon) and a sacrificial material
(typically silicon dioxide).  The structural material will form the mechanical elements, and the
 sacrificial material creates the gaps and spaces between the mechanical elements. At the end of
the process, the sacrificial material is removed, and the  structural elements are left free to move
and function. For the case of the structural level being silicon, and the sacrificial material being
silicon dioxide, the final "release" process is performed by placing the wafer in Hydrofluoric
Acid. The Hydrofluoric Acid quickly etches away the silicon dioxide, while leaving the silicon
undisturbed. The wafers are typically then sawn into individual chips, and the chips packaged in
an appropriate manner for the given application.

Surface Micromachining requires more fabrication steps than Bulk Micromachining, and hence
is more expensive.  It is able to create much more complicated devices, capable of sophisticated
functionality. Surface Micromachining is suitable for applications requiring more sophisticated
mechanical elements.

3. LIGA:

LIGA is a technology which creates small, but relatively high aspect ratio devices using x-ray
lithography. The process typically starts with a sheet of PMMA. The PMMA is covered with a
photomask, and then exposed to high energy x-rays.  The mask allows parts of the PMMA to be
exposed to the x-rays, while protecting other parts.  The PMMA is then placed in a suitable
etchant to remove the exposed areas, resulting in extremely precise, microscopic mechanical
elements.

LIGA is a relatively inexpensive fabrication technology, and suitable for applications requiring
higher aspect ratio devices than what is achievable in Surface Micromachining.

4. Deep Reactive Ion Etching:

Deep reactive ion etching is a type of Bulk Micromachining which etches mechanical elements
into a silicon wafer. Unlike traditional Bulk Micromachining, which uses a wet chemical etch,
 Deep Reactive Ion Etching micromachining uses  a plasma etch to create features.  This allows
greater flexibility in the etch profiles, enabling a wider array of mechanical elements. The
fabrication tools needed to perform Deep Reactive Ion etching are somewhat expensive, to this
technology is typically more expensive than traditional Bulk Micromachining based on wet
etching.

5. Integrated MEMS Technologies:

Since MEMS devices are created with the same tools used to create integrated circuits, in some
cases it is actually possible to fabricate Micromachines and Microelectronics on the same piece
of silicon.  Fabricating machines and transistors side by side enables machines that can have
intelligence.  A number of exciting products are already taking advantage of this capability.

Some of the advantages of MEMS devices are,

1. Very small size, mass, volume

2. Very low power consumption
3. Low cost
4. Easy to integrate into systems or modify
5. Small thermal constant
6. Can be highly resistant to vibration, shock and radiation
7. Batch fabricated in large arrays
8. Improved thermal expansion tolerance 
9. Parallelism

MEMS RELIABILITY:

An important challenge in achieving successful commercial MEMS products is associated with

MEMS reliability.  Reliability and qualification can be much more complex than for Integrated
Circuits.  Many of the MEMS failure mechanisms are not well understood. This lack of
understanding presents a challenge in developing practical qualification techniques for MEMS
products. 

For the world of integrated circuits, there are industry standard tools and techniques for
understanding and quantifying reliability.  For the world of MEMS, this knowledge base is much
more limited.  In many cases, companies that do have a firm grip on techniques for quantifying
reliability view that knowledge as a competitive advantage, and are hesitant to share it.

In order to develop reliable MEMS devices, reliability must be considered at the earliest stages
of product development. Decisions made in the design stage can result in devices that will never
be reliable.  Reliability must be understood at a fundamental physical and statistical level.

There is often a perspective that by there very nature MEMS will be unreliable because they
have moving parts.  The truth is that it is not moving parts that kill reliability, but rubbing
surfaces.  MEMS can be designed with moving surfaces, but no rubbing parts, and can be very
reliable.

Avoiding rubbing surfaces is one of the key elements in achieving reliable MEMS devices.  A
second primary issue affecting reliability is the issue of packaging.  Again, it is useful to consider
the case of integrated circuits.  Integrated circuits are known for their reliability.  It should be
noted, that integrated circuits are packaged in such a way as to protect the sensitive transistors on
the surface of the chip from the environment.  The chips are typically packaged in a hermetic
environment, or are potted to protect the devices. For the case of MEMS, some devices by their
very nature require them to be exposed to the environment, creating a reliability challenge.

The types of MEMS devices that are the most reliable, and the easiest to qualify are devices that
can be packaged in such a way as to protect them from the environment.  An excellent example
of this is the case of optical MEMS devices.  These devices can be packaged in a traditional
ceramic package, with a glass lid.  The glass lid, hermetically attached to the ceramic package
creates a "safe" environment for the sensitive MEMS chip, while still allowing photons to
interact with the MEMS device.

REFERENCES:

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microelectromechanical_systems
 http://www.nrc.org/procs/Nanotech2004v1/8
 http://www.allaboutmems.com/memstechnology.html
 http://www.tekscan.com/industrial/pressuresensors.html?
gclid=CKCE47CCsqMCFU1B6wodkH283w
 http://www.dolphin.fr/flip/mems/mems_cps.html