MICRO ELECTROMECHANICAL SYSTEMS (MEMS)

❖ 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
millimeters.

❖ Have the ability to sense, control and actuate on the micro scale,
and generate effects on the macro scale.

❖ The major advantages of MEMS devices are miniaturization,

multiplicity and the ability to directly integrate the device into
microelectronics.

It is trend to manufacture ever smaller mechanical ,optical and

electronic product and devices. Which helps in

o cost reduction with improved efficiencies.

o improved product and building material.
o ease of transportation.

❖ In the most general form, MEMS consist of mechanical

microstructures, micro sensors, micro actuators and
microelectronics, all integrated onto the same silicon chip.
Some of the key classifications associated with MEMS
*Transducer :- A transducer is a device that transforms one form of
signal or energy into another form.
*Sensor :- 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.

*Actuator :- An actuator is a device that converts an electrical signal

into an action.

Applications

*Automotive Airbag Sensor

An airbag is an inflatable safety device designed to protect the

occupants of a car in case of a collision. The airbags are part of an
occupant restraint system and are also referred to as air cushion
restraint system. Airbags supplement the basic protection offered by
seat belts. They are also referred to as airbag supplemental restraint
system due to this very reason. The effectiveness of the airbags directly
depends on the seatbelt. The seatbelt has to hold the occupant in the
car in place during the impact to ensure maximum efficiency of the
airbag. In the event of an accident, the airbag fills up very quickly and
provides a cushion for the people in the car to ensure they are
protected during the crash.

The airbags generally consist of a diagnostic monitoring unit, a steering

wheel connecting coil, an air bag module, an indicator lamp, and crash
sensors. All of these parts are interconnected and are powered by the
battery in the car.

A backup power is provided for the airbags to function even after the
battery has been disconnected. Components required for the operation
of airbags are generally dormant for years. An internal self-test is
performed during each startup to ensure the airbags are functional.
The airbag system has a crash sensor that makes sure the airbags do
not inflate when the car goes over a pothole, a bump, or even in the
case of minor collision.

How it works:

• The crash sensors present in the front of the car detects sudden
decelerations and sends electrical signals to activate an initiator.
• A thin wire provided in the initiator heats up and penetrates the
propellant chamber. This results in the chemical propellant inside
the inflator to undergo a rapid chemical reaction. This reaction is
often referred to as a pyrotechnic chain.
• This reaction produces nitrogen gas that fills the air bag. This
expanding gas inflates the airbag in less than one-twentieth of a
second.
• This opens up the plastic module cover and inflates it in front of
the person seated in the car. The bag is inflated for just one-tenth
of a second and deflated three-tenths of a second after impact.
• The inner side of the airbag is provided with a coating of
cornstarch or talcum powder which is released from the bag as it
is opened.
•
*Medical pressure sensor

In medical and healthcare applications, pressure sensors are used for

several different measurements.

Hospital and Portable Ventilators : All Sensors has been supplying

pressure sensors to leading ventilator and respiratory manufacturers
across the world for over 10 years.

Medical pressure sensors measure the oxygen tank level (about 2,000 psi
(136 Bar) or more)as well as the flow of oxygen (about 4 kPa) being
delivered to the patient. Pressure sensors are alsorequired in the module
that concentrates oxygen (typically 2 bar) directly from the atmosphere.
*Inkjet printer head

Inkjet printing is a type of computer printing that recreates a digital

image by propelling droplets of ink onto paper and plastic substrates.
Inkjet printers were the most commonly used type of printer in 2008,
and range from small inexpensive consumer models to expensive
professional machines.
Printing heads

There are two main design philosophies in inkjet head design:

fixed-head and disposable head. Each has its own strengths and
weaknesses.

Inkjet heads: disposable head (left) and fixed head (right) with ink cartridge (middle)

Fixed head
The fixed-head philosophy provides an inbuilt print head that is
designed to last for the life of the printer. The idea is that because the
head need not be replaced every time the ink runs out, consumable
costs can be made lower and the head itself can be more precise than a
cheap disposable one, typically requiring no calibration. On the other
hand, if a fixed head is damaged, obtaining a replacement head can
become expensive, if removing and replacing the head is even possible.
If the printer's head cannot be removed, the printer itself will then
need to be replaced.

Disposable head
The disposable head philosophy uses a print head which is supplied as a
part of a replaceable ink cartridge. Every time a cartridge is exhausted,
the entire cartridge and print head are replaced with a new one. This
adds to the cost of consumables and makes it more difficult to
manufacture a high-precision head at a reasonable cost, but also means
that a damaged or clogged print head is only a minor problem: the user
can simply buy a new cartridge.

Some of these microlevel issues

• Friction is greater than inertia.
• Heat dissipation is greater than heat storage and consequently
thermal transport properties could be a problem or, conversely, a
great benefit.
• Material properties (Young’s modulus, Poisson’s ratio, grain
structure) and mechanical theory (residual stress, wear and
fatigue etc.) may be size dependent
• Miniature device packaging and testing is not straightforward.
Certain MEMS sensors require environmental access as well as
protection from other external influences. Testing is not rapid and
is expensive in comparison with conventional IC devices .
NANO ELECTROMECHANICAL SYSTEMS (NEMS)
❖ Nano-electromechanical system (NEMS) are nanoscopic devices
that have a characteristic length of less than 100nm and combine
electrical and mechanical components.

❖ NEMS is the logical miniaturization of microelectromechanical

systems.

❖ NEMS typically integrate transistor like nanoelectronics with

mechanical actuators, pumps, or motors, and can be acted as
physical, biological, and chemical sensors.

❖ The NEMS class of devices includes nanomachines ,novel sensors

and a variety of new devices that function on nanoscale.

❖ NEMS can be fabricated either by top-down or bottom-up

processess.

❖ Top-down methods using lithographic, chemical vapour

depositions are the most common.

❖ Bottom-up approaches involve the fabrication of nano scale

devices by self assembly or self organized structure using atomic
and molecular building blocks.

❖ Material of fabrication of NEMS structures is not limited to silicon.

❖ Compounds such as gallium arsenide (GaAs) are considered as
good NEMS materials.

❖ The basic mechanical element of NEMS is a nano size suspended

film, a membrane or beam as active component, and the easy
flexural deformation of such mechanical elements provide high
mechanical responses for NEMS. The electronics devices to which
the beam is coupled are of comparable dimensions

BENEFITS OF NANO MACHINES

• Nano-Mechanical devices promise to revolutionize

measurements of extremely small displacement and forces.
• Can built with the masses approaching a few attograms (10-
18g) and with cross-section of 10nm.
• A second important attribute Nano Machines is that they
dissipate less energy.
• NEMSA are extremely sensitive for the external damping
mechanism which is crucial for building sensors.
 • The Geometry of a NEMS device can be tailored so that the
vibrating elements react only to external forces in a specific
direction.
• NEMS are ultra low power devices.
• Fundamental power scale is defined by the thermal energy
divided by the response time.

FABRICATIONS OF NEMS DEVICE

*There are three basic building blocks in NEMS
technology.
• Deposition process
• Nano Lithography
• Etching process

DEPOSITION PROCESS

o One of the basic building blocks in NEMS process is the ability to

deposit thin films of materials
o
• Thin films of thickness of about few nm to about 100 nm.
• Chemical methods used in NEMS deposition process
1. chemical vapour deposition
2. Epitaxy.
Chemical vapour deposition

Fig. 1: Typical hot-wall LPCVD reactor

Epitaxy

Typical cold-wall vapour phase epitaxial reactor

NANO LITHOGRAPHY
Nanolithography (NL) is a growing field of techniques within
nanotechnology dealing with the engineering (patterning e.g. etching,
depositing, writing, printing etc) of nanometer-scale structures on
various materials.

All NL methods can be categorized into four groups: photo lithography,

scanning lithography, soft lithography and other miscellaneous
techniques.

• Photo lithography

Photolithography is the most heavily used technique in mass

production of microelectronics and semiconductor devices. It’s
characterized by both high production throughput and small-sized
features of the patterns.

Optical Lithography (or photolithography) is one of the most important

and prevalent sets of techniques in the nanolithography field. Optical
lithography contains several important derivative techniques, all that
use very short light wavelengths in order to change the solubility of
certain molecules, causing them to wash away in solution, leaving
behind a desired structure. Some of the included techniques in this set
include multiphoton lithography, X-Ray lithography, light coupling
nanolithography (LCM), and extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL).
ETCHING PROCESS

Etching is used in nanofabrication to chemically remove layers from the

surface of a sample during manufacturing. Etching is a critically
important process module. For many etch steps, part of the sample is
protected from the etchant by a "masking" material which resists
etching. In some cases, the masking material is a photoresist which has
been patterned using photolithography. Other situations require a
more durable mask, such as silicon nitride or metal. If the etch is
intended to make a cavity in a material, the depth of the cavity may be
controlled approximately using the etching time and the known etch
rate. More often, though, etching must entirely remove the top layer of
a multilayer structure, without damaging the underlying or masking
layers. The etching system's ability to do this depends on the ratio of
etch rates in the two materials (selectivity).
ADVANTAGES
• Cost effectiveness.
• System integration.
• High Precision.
• Small size.

APPLICATIONS OF NEMS

* Accelerometer :
NEMS accelerometers are quickly replacing conventional
accelerometers for crash air-bag deployment systems in automobiles..
* NEMS in Wireless Technologies

A 3G “smart” phone will require the functionality of as many as five

radios – for TDMA, CDMA, 3G, Bluetooth and GSM operation. A huge
increase in component count is required to accomplish this demand .

*Nano Nozzles

NEMS can be used in inkjet printer’s as nano nozzles which direct

the ink to print.