Deep Indexing added to selected databases Poetry and Audience in America

Discovery Guides

MicroElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS)

!"eleased #ctober $%%&' by Salvatore A( )ittorio

"evie*

+ey ,itations

-eb Sites

Glossary

,on.erences

/ditor

Review Article
I. Introduction

Discovery Guides Areas >Arts & Humanities >Natural Sciences >Social Sciences >Technology > ist All

0icroelectromechanical systems !0/0S' are small integrated devices or systems that combine electrical and mechanical components( They range in si1e .rom the sub micrometer !or sub micron' level to the millimeter level2 and there can be any number2 .rom a .e* to millions2 in a particular system( 0/0S extend the .abrication techni3ues developed .or the integrated circuit industry to add mechanical elements such as beams2 gears2 diaphragms2 and springs to devices( /xamples o. 0/0S device applications include in45et6printer cartridges2 accelerometers2 miniature robots2 microengines2 loc4s2 inertial sensors2 microtransmissions2 micromirrors2 micro actuators2 optical scanners2 .luid pumps2 transducers2 and chemical2 pressure and .lo* sensors( Ne* applications are emerging as the existing technology is applied to the miniaturi1ation and integration o. conventional devices( These systems can sense2 control2 and activate mechanical processes on the micro scale2 and .unction individually or in arrays to generate e..ects on the macro scale( The micro .abrication technology enables .abrication o. large arrays o. devices2 *hich individually per.orm simple tas4s2 but in combination can accomplish complicated .unctions( 0/0S are not about any one application or device2 nor are they de.ined by a single .abrication process or limited to a .e* materials( They are a .abrication approach that conveys the advantages o. miniaturi1ation2 multiple components2 and microelectronics to the design and construction o. integrated electromechanical systems( 0/0S are not only about miniaturi1ation o. mechanical systems7 they are also a ne* paradigm .or designing mechanical devices and systems( The 0/0S industry has an estimated 8&% billion mar4et2 and *ith a pro5ected &%6$%9 annual gro*th rate2 it is estimated to have a 8:; billion mar4et in $%%$ <&=( >ecause o. the signi.icant impact that 0/0S can have on the commercial and de.ense mar4ets2 industry and the .ederal government have both ta4en a special interest in their development(

II. Historical Background The invention o. the transistor at >ell Telephone aboratories in &?;@ spar4ed a .ast6 gro*ing microelectronic technology( Aac4 +ilby o. Texas Instruments built the .irst integrated circuit !I,' in &?BC using germanium !Ge' devices( It consisted o. one transistor2 three resistors2 and one capacitor( The I, *as implemented on a sliver o. Ge that *as glued on a glass slide( ater that same year "obert Noyce o. Dairchild Semiconductor announced the development o. a planar double6di..used Si I,( The complete transition .rom the original Ge transistors *ith gro*n and alloyed 5unctions to silicon !Si' planar double6di..used devices too4 about &% years( The success o. Si as an electronic material *as due partly to its *ide availability .rom silicon dioxide !Si#$' !sand'2 resulting in potentially lo*er material costs relative to other semiconductors( Since &?@%2 the complexity o. I,s has doubled every t*o to three years( The minimum dimension o. manu.actured devices and I,s has decreased .rom $% microns to the sub micron levels o. today( ,urrent ultra6large6scale6integration !E SI' technology enables the .abrication o. more than &% million transistors and capacitors on a typical chip( I, .abrication is dependent upon sensors to provide input .rom the surrounding environment2 5ust as control systems need actuators !also re.erred to as transducers' in order to carry out their desired .unctions( Due to the availability o. sand as a material2 much e..ort *as put into developing Si processing and characteri1ation tools( These tools are no* being used to advance transducer technology( TodayFs I, technology .ar outstrips the original sensors and actuators in per.ormance2 si1e2 and cost( Attention in this area *as .irst .ocused on microsensor !i(e(2 micro.abricated sensor' development( The .irst microsensor2 *hich has also been the most success.ul2 *as the Si pressure sensor( In &?B; it *as discovered that the pie1oresistive e..ect in Ge and Si had the potential to produce Ge and Si strain gauges *ith a gauge .actor !i(e(2 instrument sensitivity' &% to $% times greater than those based on metal .ilms( As a result2 Si strain gauges began to be developed commercially in &?BC( The .irst high6volume pressure sensor *as mar4eted by National Semiconductor in &?@;( This sensor included a temperature controller .or constant6temperature operation( Improvements in this technology since then have included the utili1ation o. ion implantation .or improved control o. the pie1oresistor .abrication( Si pressure sensors are no* a billion6dollar industry <$=( Around &?C$2 the term micromachining came into use to designate the .abrication o. micromechanical parts !such as pressure6sensor diaphragms or accelerometer suspension beams' .or Si microsensors( The micromechanical parts *ere .abricated by selectively etching areas o. the Si substrate a*ay in order to leave behind the desired geometries( Isotropic etching o. Si *as developed in the early &?G%s .or transistor .abrication( Anisotropic etching o. Si then came about in &?G@( )arious etch6stop techni3ues *ere subse3uently developed to provide .urther process .lexibility( These techni3ues also .orm the basis o. the bul4 micromachining processing techni3ues( >ul4 micromachining designates the point at *hich the bul4 o. the Si substrate is etched a*ay to leave behind the desired micromechanical elements <:=( >ul4 micromachining has remained a po*er.ul techni3ue .or the .abrication o. micromechanical elements( Ho*ever2 the need .or .lexibility in device design and per.ormance improvement has motivated the development o. ne* concepts and techni3ues .or micromachining(

&CG'( ?( 0( em4in2 0( #rti12 N( -ong4omet2 >( >oser2 and A( Smith2 A :6axis sur.ace micromachined sigma6delta accelerometer2 Proc( ISS,, ?@2 pp( $%$6$%:2 &??@( &%( "( Nasby2 A( Sniego*s4i2 A( Smith2 S( 0ontague2 ,( >arron2 -( /aton2 P( 0c -horter2 D( Hetherington2 ,( Apblett2 and A( Dleming2 Application o. chemical6mechanical polishing to planari1ation o. sur.ace6micromachined devices2 Proc( Solid6State Sensor and Actuator -or4shop2 pp( ;C6B:2 &??G( &&( A( Sniego*s4i2 0ulti6level polysilicon sur.ace micromachining technologyH Applications and issues2 AS0/ International 0echanical /ngineering ,ongress and /xposition2 &??G( &$( David >ishop2 "andy Giles2 and ,harles "oxlo2 0icromirrors relieve communications bottlenec4s2 Photonics Spectra2 vol( :;2 no( :2 0ar( $%%%2 pp( &G@6&G?( &:( +o5i Ta4ahashi2 Hiro.umi Sa4ai2 +unihito Nagayama2 A4ihito >aba2 +en5i 0a4ihara2 Tanemesa Asano2 )apori1ation and nucleation on microheater in microchannel *ith no11le2 AIAA Thermophysics ,on.erence2 :Bth2 Anaheim2 ,A2 Aune &&6&;2 $%%&2 AIAA Paper $%%&6 :%@B'( &;( Aames H( Smith and Steven T( -alsh2 Selecting a process paradigm .or an emergent disruptive technologyH /vidence .rom the emerging microsystems technology base2 &??@( &B( H( ,( Nathanson and "( A( -ic4strom2 A resonant6gate silicon sur.ace transistor *ith high I bandpass properties Applied Physics etters @2 C; !&?GB' &G( httpHJJmems(engr(*isc(eduJpolysilicon(html( Eniversity o. -isconsin2 0adison2 -isconsin(
K ,opyright $%%&2 All "ights "eserved2 ,SA

K$%&$2 ProIuest All rights reserved( L Privacy Policy L Terms and ,onditions Governing Ese L Help

Freescale Logo

Products Microcontrollers

8-bit MCUs 16-bit MCUs Digital Signal Controllers Kinetis ARM MCUs Vybrid Controller Solutions

 o
%rocessors

Qori

a !"###$ %o&er Arc'itecture MCUs

%( Series %o&er Arc'itecture MCUs Cold)ire*+Cold)ire MCUs

o o

i,M( A--lication %rocessors Vybrid Controller Solutions Qor.Q %rocessing %lat/or0s %o&erQU.CC Co00unications %rocessors %o&er Arc'itecture 1ost %rocessors Cold)ire+68K %rocessors

Analog and %o&er Manage0ent Digital Signal %rocessors and Controllers

o o o
R) Sensors

StarCore 1ig'-%er/or0ance DS%s DS%"6K+Sy0-'ony DS%s Digital Signal Controllers

So/t&are and 2ools

o
Applications Auto0oti e

Code3arrior De elo-0ent 2ools All So/t&are and 2ools

Ad anced Dri er Assistance Syste0s 4ody 5lectronics C'assis and Sa/ety .n/otain0ent .nstru0ent Cluster %o&ertrain and 1ybrid Syste0s

o o o

Connecti ity Consu0er .ndustrial

S0art 6rid Digital %o&er Con ersion )actory Auto0ation 1o0e A--liances 4uilding Control %oints-o/-Sale and Kios7s

Medical+1ealt'care

o o o o
Motor Control 8et&or7ing S0art 5nergy Design Resources

Diagnostics and 2'era-y 1ealt' and 3ellness 1o0e %ortable .0aging

So/t&are and 2ools

o o

Code3arrior De elo-0ent 2ools All So/t&are and 2ools

Re/erence Designs 2raining

9n-De0and :i e .n-De-t' Designing &it' )reescale Se0inars )reescale 2ec'nology )oru0

)reescale Connect %artner %rogra0

o o o o o o o o
Support

Sa/eAssure )unctional Sa/ety %rogra0 %roduct :onge ity %rogra0 5nergy-5//icient Solutions %rogra0 Custo0 .Cs and S9Cs Docu0entation

Sales and Su--ort 2ec'nical Ser ice Re;uest Discussion )oru0s

o o o o o
About Sample and Buy 4uy Direct 9rder Sa0-les

%roduct )oru0s Code3arrior )oru0s MQ(< So/t&are )oru0s

Distributor 8et&or7 %ricing and A ailability

Co0-any .n/or0ation

o o o

3orld&ide :ocations Media Center .n estor Relations )reescale Co00unities 5 ents

Cor-orate Res-onsibility Quality 2ec'nology :eaders'i-

5n iron0entally %re/erred %roducts

 o o
C'ina :ocations

)oundry and Manu/acturing Ser ices %rocess 2ec'nology 5nergy Manage0ent 2ec'nology %ac7aging 2ec'nology

Careers Uni ersity

=a-an

Korea

S'o--ing Cart

My )reescale

:ogin

Keyword Product/Parametric Orderable Part

Searc' by 7ey& o

Welcome Guest

Register ogin Annotate

Add a !ote to t"is Page

#istory $y Recommendations $y %avorites Share

)reescale 2ec'nology :eaders'i%rocess 2ec'nology M5MS-4ased Sensor 2ec'nology

Live Chat Available

$&$S'Based Sensor (ec"nology

Micro-electro0ec'anical syste0s !M5MS$ are )reescale>s enabling tec'nology /or acceleration and -ressure sensors, M5MSbased sensor -roducts -ro ide an inter/ace t'at can sense? -rocess and+or control t'e surrounding en iron0ent, )reescale>s M5MS-based sensors are a class o/ de ices t'at builds ery s0all electrical and 0ec'anical co0-onents on a single c'i-, M5MS-based sensors are a crucial co0-onent in auto0oti e electronics? 0edical e;ui-0ent? 'ard dis7 dri es? co0-uter -eri-'erals? &ireless de ices and s0art -ortable electronics suc' as cell -'ones and %DAs,

Bene)its o) $&$S*

:o& Cost :o& %o&er Miniaturi@ation 1ig' %er/or0ance .ntegration

%reescale+s eaders"ip Position

)reescale Se0iconductor 'as been de elo-ing M5MS-based sensors /or al0ost AB years, 2'e -rocess tec'nology used to 0anu/acture t'e sensors can broadly be grou-ed into t&oC bul7 0icro0ac'ing and sur/ace 0icro0ac'ining, 9ur organi@ation -roduces acceleration sensors and -ressure sensors, )reescale is a 'ig' olu0e 0anu/acturer o/ M5MS-based sensors,

Applications
M5MS-based sensors are a crucial co0-onent in auto0oti e electronics? 0edical e;ui-0ent? s0art -ortable electronics suc' as cell -'ones? %DAs? and 'ard dis7 dri es? co0-uter -eri-'erals? and &ireless de ices, 2'ese sensors began in t'e auto0oti e industry es-ecially /or cras' detection in airbag syste0s, 2'roug'out t'e 1DDBs to today? t'e airbag sensor 0ar7et 'as -ro ed to be a 'uge success using M5MS tec'nology, M5MS-based sensors are no& beco0ing -er asi e in e eryt'ing /ro0 in7Eet cartridges to cell -'ones, 5 ery 0aEor 0ar7et 'as no& e0braced t'e tec'nology,

#AR$&$S (ec"nology
)reescale>s ne#t-generation 'ig' as-ect ratio 0icro-electro0ec'anical syste0s !1ARM5MS$ tec'nology is a -ro en tec'nology /or airbag sensing a--lications, 2'e accelero0eters 'a e an ad anced transducer design t'at en'ances sensor o//set -er/or0ance, 1ARM5MS tec'nology -ro ides o er-da0-ed 0ec'anical res-onse and e#ce-tional signal-to-noise ratio to address custo0er re;uire0ents, Since t'e airbag 0ain 5CU syste0 is installed in t'e e'icle cabin? o er-da0-ed 1ARM5MS tec'nology enables a 'ig' degree o/ i00unity to 'ig'-/re;uency? 'ig'-a0-litude -arasitic ibrations, 1ARM5MS tec'nology 'as also been introduced in dual-a#is accelero0eters used in electronic stability control !5SC$ to 0easure t'e lateral acceleration o/ t'e e'icle,

Return to Top

$&$S Sur)ace $icromac"ining

.n sur/ace 0icro0ac'ining? t'e M5MS sensors are /or0ed on to- o/ t'e &a/er using de-osited t'in /il0 0aterials, 2'ese de-osited 0aterials consist o/ structural 0aterials t'at are used in t'e /or0ation o/ t'e sensors and sacri/icial layers t'at are used to de/ine ga-s bet&een t'e structural layers, Many o/ t'e sur/ace 0icro0ac'ined sensors use t'e ca-aciti e transduction 0et'od to con ert t'e in-ut 0ec'anical signal to t'e e;ui alent electrical signal, .n t'e ca-aciti e transduction 0et'od? t'e sensor can be considered to be a 0ec'anical ca-acitor in &'ic' one o/ t'e -lates 0o es &it' res-ect to t'e a--lied -'ysical sti0ulus, 2'is c'anges t'e ga- bet&een t'e t&o electrodes &it' a

corres-onding c'ange in t'e ca-acitance, 2'is c'ange in ca-acitance is t'e electrical e;ui alent o/ t'e in-ut 0ec'anical sti0ulus,

Return to Top

$&$S Bul, $icromac"ining

.n bul7 0icro0ac'ining? t'e single crystal silicon is etc'ed to /or0 t'ree-di0ensional M5MS de ices, 2'is is a subtracti e -rocess in &'ic' t'e silicon in t'e &a/er is s-eci/ically re0o ed using anisotro-ic c'e0istries, Using t'is bul7 0icro0ac'ining 0et'od? sensors suc' as -ie@oresisti e -ressure sensors 'a e been 0anu/actured in 'ig' olu0e, .n t'e si0-lest i0-le0entation? t'e silicon is selecti ely etc'ed in certain areas to /or0 a dia-'rag0, .n an absolute -ressure sensor? t'e silicon &a/er is t'en bonded &it' anot'er &a/er !eit'er o/ silicon or glass$ to /or0 a acuu0-sealed ca ity belo& t'e dia-'rag0, 2'e dia-'rag0 t'en de/lects in res-onse to t'e a--lied -ressure, 2'e transduction 0ec'anis0 t'at 'as been &idely used is t'e -ie@oresisti e e//ect, .n -ie@oresisti e 0aterials? t'e c'ange in t'e stress causes a strain and a corres-onding c'ange in t'e resistance, 2'us? &'en i0-lanted -ie@oresistors are /or0ed at t'e 0a#i0u0 stress -oints o/ t'e dia-'rag0? t'e de/lection under t'e a--lied -ressure causes a c'ange in t'e resistance, 2y-ically? t'ese -ie@oresistors are /or0ed as a bridge net&or7 and t'e oltage a--lied bet&een t&o ter0inals cause an out-ut oltage to be 0easured bet&een t'e ot'er t&o ter0inals,

(raining - &vents o
&vents International Workshop on Intelligent Sensor Hub (WISH) 1D-FG August Ro0e? .taly MEMS Executive Congress S H-D 8o e0ber Scottsdale? AI

Read $ore
MEMS Fact Sheet HA!MEMS "echnolog# MEMS Sur$ace Micro%aching MEMS &ulk Micro%achining

%eatured .ideos

MEMS' Making Micro Machines !Video - 1CF1$

MEMS in Auto%otive Sa$et# S#ste%s !Video - ACBD$

/onnect Wit" 0s
$i,e Stanley+s Blogs)ollo&

Mi7e>s Sensing 2o-ic Discussions

!eturn to "op

Site Ma2er0s o/ Use 2rade0ar7s %ri acy Agree0ent 8e&sletter

Contact Us Mobile 4ro&ser Co0-atibility

J )reescale? .nc, FBBG - FB1F, All Rig'ts Reser ed,