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Icro-Lectro - Echanical Ystems BY Veerabhadraswamy.N USN:4BD07ME114

This document discusses micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS). It defines MEMS as very small electrical and mechanical devices that are manufactured using similar techniques as microprocessors. MEMS devices can have millions of parts working together and replace larger actuators and sensors. They are fabricated using techniques like surface micromachining and bulk micromachining that involve depositing layers and etching away sacrificial layers. Common MEMS components include sensors, actuators, RF switches, and optical devices. Challenges in the field include limited fabrication options, difficult packaging, and needing fabrication knowledge at the design stage. Future areas of research include nano-electro-mechanical systems (NEMS) that operate at the nanometer

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Pradeep Kumar
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46 views29 pages

Icro-Lectro - Echanical Ystems BY Veerabhadraswamy.N USN:4BD07ME114

This document discusses micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS). It defines MEMS as very small electrical and mechanical devices that are manufactured using similar techniques as microprocessors. MEMS devices can have millions of parts working together and replace larger actuators and sensors. They are fabricated using techniques like surface micromachining and bulk micromachining that involve depositing layers and etching away sacrificial layers. Common MEMS components include sensors, actuators, RF switches, and optical devices. Challenges in the field include limited fabrication options, difficult packaging, and needing fabrication knowledge at the design stage. Future areas of research include nano-electro-mechanical systems (NEMS) that operate at the nanometer

Uploaded by

Pradeep Kumar
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Micro-

Electro-
Mechanical
Systems
BY
VEERABHADRASWAMY.N
USN:4BD07ME114
Huh?

What do all those


words mean?!
Let’s Define

 Micro – Really Small


› HOW SMALL??? One millionth of a meter!

Width of Human Hair (100 micro-meters)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_

Size of MEMS features (1 micro-meter)


Let’s Define

 Electro – Uses electricity


 Mechanical – Involves motion

› How does it do both?


 Uses electricity to cause motion!
 Uses motion to change electricity!
Let’s Define
 System - A group of things acting together as a
whole

› Some MEMS devices have millions of parts acting


together!
Why MEMS……?
 These devices replace bulky actuators and
sensors with micron scale equivalent that can
produce in large quantities used in integrated
circuits in photolithography.
 They reduce cost, bulk, weight and power
consumption while increasing performance,
production volume and functionality by order of
magnitudes.
What is MEMS…?
 MEMS is a diminutive version of traditional
electrical and mechanical devices.
 MEMS are manufactured using techniques
similar to those used in fabricating a
microprocessor chip.
Components of MEMS…

1) Sensors: They sense changes and interact with


their environments. They include chemical,
motion, inertia, thermal and optical sensors.
2) Actuators: They provide power or stimulus to
other components. They can be either
electrostatically or thermally driven.
Components:

3) RF MEMS: They are used to switch or transmit


high frequency, RF signals.
4) Optical MEMS: They direct, reflect, filter and
amplify light.
5) Micro fluidic MEMS: They interact with fluid-
based environments.
6) Bio MEMS: They interact specifically with
biological samples.
Fabrication:
 Designed using CAD tools

 These layouts are then sent to foundry, where the


chip is fabricated, a mask-less post processing
release step is performed where sacrificial layers
are etched away allowing the structural layers to
move and rotate.
Fabrication Classes:

Surface Micromachining technique:

&

Bulk Micromachining
Surface Micromaching:
 It is relatively independent of the substrate
utilized, and can be easily mixed with other
fabrication techniques which modify the
substrate first.
 This is being used to produce a wide variety of
MEMS device for many different application.
 Uses the same process as IC fabrication

 Needs multiple layers to create structures

 Cheapest form of Micromachining

 When sacrificial material is removed, only whole


structures are left
Bulk Micromachining…
 It is subtractive fabrication technique.

 Packaging of the device tends to be more


difficult.
Applications:
 Sensors and Actuators:
Sensors are non intrusive while
actuators modify the environment.
micro-sensors are useful because of their
small size which allows them to be less invasive.
Micro-Actuators are useful because of the
work they perform on environment is also very
small.
Smart Dust:
 The goal is to explore the size and power
consumption in autonomous sensor nodes.
 The size reduction will be a major challenge.
 With a cubic millimeter the total stored energy is
limited to the order of one joule.
Micro Robots
 Micro-robot is the mobile product of smart dust
technology.
 These can sense, think, communicate, move, and
interact with the environment.
 A crawling micro-robot consumes only tens of
microwatts of power by solar cells while it can
lift over 130 times its own weight.
 Electrostatic linear inch worm motor:
This family of motors is fabricated on silicon
insulator wafers using a single mask.
 MEMS technologies is enabling new discoveries
in science and engineering such as
 Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)
 Microsystems for DNA amplification and
identification.
 Communication with the micro-system would be
done via a direct connection or wireless
communication link.

 MEMS based switches route light from fibre to


another i.e. using fibre optics
Challenges & requirements:
 Limited option:
Most of the companies who wish to explore
the potential of MEMS have very limited options
for prototyping or manufacturing devices, and
have no capability or expertise in
microfabrication technology.
Packaging:
 MEMS packaging is more challenging than IC
packaging due to diversity of MEMS devices and
the requirements that many of these devices be in
contact with their environment.
 Most companies find that packaging is the single
most expensive and time consuming task in their
overall product development program.
Fabrication knowledge:
 Currently the designer of MEMS device needs
the fabrication knowledge in order to create a
useful design
 MEMS device require a dedicated research effort
to find a suitable process sequence for fabricating
it.
Future Of MEMS: NEMS
 Nano-Electro-Mechanical-Systems is the
Technology that is similar to MEMS, however it
involves fabrication on the nanometer scale.
 NEMS can be built with masses approaching a
few attograms(10-18grams) and with a cross-
section of about 10 Nanometers.
 Electro-Beam lithography and nanomachining
now enable semiconductor nanostructure to be
fabricated below 10 nm.

There are challenges in creating NEMS


1)Communicating signals from nano scale to
microscopic world could be a problem.
2) Understanding and controlling mesoscopic
mechanism is still in the very early stage.
3) Thermal conductance in this regime is quantized,
i.e. the quantum mechanics places an upper limit
on the rate at which energy can be dissipated in
small devices by vibrations.
4) We do not have methods for reproducible and
routing mass fabrication ; device reproducibility
is currently very hard and almost unachievable.
Conclusion:
 Micromachining and MEMS technologies are
powerful tools for enabling the miniaturization of
sensors, actuators and systems.
 Fabrication technique promise to reduce the cost
of MEMS, particularly those produced in high
volumes.
Reference:
 Jack Shandle. “MEMS- The applications Triage”.

 Nadim Maluf and Kirt Williams: Introduction to


Micro electro mechanical Systems.
Thank you..
Questions..?

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