EE-818: Micro-Electro-Mechanical

Systems(MEMS)

Week No. 3
MEMS Research Group- E&ME College
Application Domains and Working Methodology

2
Some Examples of Our Work

Microgripper for Manipulation of Biological Materials

Multi-DoF MEMS Gyroscope 3

Some Examples of Our Work

Functional MEMS Gyroscope

RF-MEMS Switch for Space Applications

Test Microstructures for MEMS Reliability Microgripper for Single Cell Maniplation
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Our Current Research Focus

MEMS Sensors in Tele-Manipulation Based Robotic Surgery

Da Vinci robot from Intuitive Surgical Inc, USA
Our Current Research Focus

MEMS Sensors in Tele-Manipulation Based Robotic Surgery

Da Vinci robot from Intuitive Surgical Inc, USA
Our Current Research Focus

Tactile Sensing Mechanism for Da Vinci robot by University of Pennsylvania USA

Our Current Research Focus

Tactile Sensing Mechanism for Eye Surgery

(a) (b)
Our Current Research Focus
Micro/Nanotechnology in Robotic Surgery

In a recent research study “Global Nanotechnology Market Outlook 2024” by RANCO Business Consultancy Service,
the global nanotechnology market is expected to exceed USD 125 Billion by year 2024.

The global robotics technology market size was valued at $62.75 billion in 2019, and is projected to reach $189.36
billion by 2027

Capacitive tactile sensor consisting of 16 × 16 tactile cells for force measurement in robotic hand
Our Current Research Focus
Micro/Nanotechnology in Robotic Surgery

Piezoresistive MEMS based tactile sensor for stiffness characterization in robotic manipulation
Our Current Research Focus

Micro/Nanotechnology in Robotic Surgery

Piezoelectric MEMS based tactile sensor for texture and shape recognition of the micro objects
Potential of MEMS Technology in Pakistan
Problem Identification
Lack of trained manpower in the
IC and MEMS design and
development

Lack of collaborative and Demand for MEMS sensors in local

focused effort in the industry, specially defense industry
Microchip/Microsystems but no indigenous development
development

• The Indian semiconductor component

market is expected to be worth USD
32.35 Billion by 2025.
No share in Asia-pacific fabless
Microsystems development
• Revenues for Indian fabless
market semiconductor companies is USD 50
Million currently.
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Potential of MEMS Technology in Pakistan
Demand for MEMS in Local Industry
MEMS Inertial Sensors by Analog Devices

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Potential of MEMS Technology in Pakistan
Demand for MEMS in Local Industry

Bias Stability is the Key

Performance Parameter for
Navigation/Tactical Grade
MEMS Inertial Sensors for
UAVs, Missiles and Munition
Systems.

Navigation grade IMUs are

under strict export laws, for
example, the highest
performance based IMU by
Analog Devices i.e. ADIS16490
has been assigned the USA
Export Control Classification
Numbers (ECCN) of 7A994
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 Review of Essential Electrical and Mechanical Concepts
Stress and Strain
Newton’s Laws is that, for any stationary object, the vector sum of forces and
moment (torque) on the object and on any part of it must be zero.

semiconductor
 Review of Essential Electrical and Mechanical Concepts
Stress and Strain
Newton’s Laws is that, for any stationary object, the vector sum of forces and
moment (torque) on the object and on any part of it must be zero.

semiconductor
 Review of Essential Electrical and Mechanical Concepts
Flexural Beams in MEMS
A beam is a structure member subjected to lateral loads, that is, forces or
moments having their vectors perpendicular to the longitudinal axis.
Flexural beams are used in MEMS as spring support elements.
We have to calculate
o Bending of beam under simple loading conditions
o Analyzing the induced internal stresses
o Determining the resonant frequency
 Review of Essential Electrical and Mechanical Concepts
Various Beams used in MEMS
 Applications of Microcantiliver Based Sensors
Savran, C.A., Knudsen, S.M., Ellington, A.D. and Manalis, S.R., 2004. Micromechanical detection of proteins using aptamer-based receptor
molecules. Analytical chemistry, 76(11), pp.3194-3198.
 Applications of Microcantiliver Based Sensors
Zheng, Fengjiao, Peixi Wang, Qingfeng Du, Yiping Chen, and Nan Liu. "Simultaneous and ultrasensitive detection of foodborne bacteria by
gold Nanoparticles-Amplified Microcantilever array biosensor." Frontiers in chemistry 7 (2019): 232.
 Review of Essential Electrical and Mechanical Concepts
Longitudinal Strain under Pure Bending

o For a beam with symmetry and material homogeneity,

the distribution of the stress and strain follows:
o The magnitude of stress and strain at any interior point
is linearly proportional to the distance between this
point and neutral axis;
o On a given cross section, the maximum tensile stress
and compressive stress occur at the top and bottom
surfaces;
o The maximum tensile stress and the maximum
compressive stress have the same magnitude;
o Under pure bending, the magnitude of the maximum
stress is constant along the length of the beam.
 Review of Essential Electrical and Mechanical Concepts
Longitudinal Strain under Pure Bending
o Cantilever beam is fixed at one end while force
of 1000 μN is applied on the free end in positive
y direction (upwards).
o Material for beam is thin film gold. Thin film
properties (Youngs modulus, Poisson ratio and
Density are given as input in ANSYS.
o Properties are first converted into micrometer
units.
o Dimensions are: Length =1000 um, Width = 50
um and thickness 200um.
 Review of Essential Electrical and Mechanical Concepts
Longitudinal Strain under Pure Bending
o Displacement along y-axis
 Review of Essential Electrical and Mechanical Concepts
Longitudinal Strain under Pure Bending
o Normal Strain
 Review of Essential Electrical and Mechanical Concepts
Longitudinal Strain under Pure Bending

o Normal Stress
 Review of Essential Electrical and Mechanical Concepts

Longitudinal Strain under Pure Bending

o Total Stress
 Review of Essential Electrical and Mechanical Concepts
o Natural Frequency of Cantilever Beam (No applied force, only boundary conditions)
 Review of Essential Electrical and Mechanical Concepts
o Natural Frequency of Cantilever Beam (No applied force, only boundary
conditions)
 Review of Essential Electrical and Mechanical Concepts
o Modal Frequency of Cantilever Beam (Second Mode)
 Review of Essential Electrical and Mechanical Concepts
o Modal Frequency of Cantilever Beam (Third Mode)
 Review of Essential Electrical and Mechanical Concepts
o Modal Frequency of Cantilever Beam
 Review of Essential Electrical and Mechanical Concepts
o Bending Analysis of a Cantilever Beam

MEMS based Biosensor

 Review of Essential Electrical and Mechanical Concepts
Stress and Strain

semiconductor
 Review of Essential Electrical and Mechanical Concepts
Stress and Strain

Shear Stress

Shear Strain

Shear Modulus of Elasticity

 Review of Essential Electrical and Mechanical
Concepts
Stress-Strain Curve

semiconductor
 Material Properties in MEMS
Tensile Testing in MEMS

semiconductor
 Material Properties in MEMS
Tensile Testing in MEMS

Emery, R. D., & Povirk, G. L. (2003). Tensile behavior of free-standing gold films. Part I. Coarse-
grained films. Acta Materialia, 51(7), 2067-2078.

semiconductor
 Material Properties in MEMS
Tensile Testing in MEMS

semiconductor
 Material Properties in MEMS
Tensile Testing in MEMS

semiconductor
 Material Properties in MEMS
Tensile Testing in MEMS

semiconductor
 Material Properties in MEMS
Tensile Testing in MEMS

Haque, M. A., & Saif, M. T. A. (2001). Microscale materials testing using MEMS actuators. Journal
of Microelectromechanical Systems, 10(1), 146-152.

semiconductor
 Material Properties in MEMS
Tensile Testing in MEMS

Haque, M. A., & Saif, M. T. A. (2001). Microscale materials testing using MEMS actuators. Journal of
Microelectromechanical Systems, 10(1), 146-152.

semiconductor
 Material Properties in MEMS
Tensile Testing in MEMS

semiconductor
 Material Properties in MEMS
Tensile Testing in MEMS

Espinosa, H. D., Zhu, Y., & Moldovan, N. (2007). Design and operation of a MEMS-based material testing
system for nanomechanical characterization.Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems, 16(5), 1219-1231.

semiconductor
 Material Properties in MEMS
Tensile Testing in MEMS

semiconductor
What kind of mechanical behaviour phenomena does one have to understand?
 Phenomenologically mechanical behaviour can be understood as in the flow diagram
below.
 Multiple mechanisms may be associated with these phenomena (e.g. creep can occur by
diffusion, grain boundary sliding etc.).
 These phenomena may lead to the failure of a material.

Mechanical Behaviour

Elasticity Recoverable deformation

Plasticity Permanent deformation

Fracture Propagation of cracks in a material

Fatigue Oscillatory loading

Creep Elongation at constant load at High temperatures

Note: above is a ‘broad’ classification for ‘convenience’. E.g. Creep is also leads to plastic deformation!
Review of Essential Electrical and Mechanical Concepts

Recoverable
Instantaneous
Elastic
Time dependent Anelasticity
Deformation
Instantaneous
Plastic
Permanent Time dependent

Viscoelasticity
 Creep in Microstructures
• Time dependent accumulation of the plastic strain at high temperature and stress affects both the static
and dynamic response of the MEMS device.
• For the long term reliability of the MEMS devices especially for the space applications it is very
important to study the creep mechanism .

Creep in Microstructures

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 Creep in Microstructures

Typical stress- strain-time curve Typical creep strain-time curve

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Creep in Microstructures

Creep recovery and anelasticity

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Case Study: Experimental Investigation of Creep in Gold RF
Microstructures Experimental Investigation of
Creep in Gold RF Microstructures

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An RF MEMS Switch

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Experimental Investigation of Creep in Gold RF Microstructures
•Samples designed ad-hoc for creep tests
•Electrostatic actuation
•Material: gold electroplated
•Typical configuration of microbridge based RF-MEMS switch

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Experimental Investigation of Creep in Gold RF Microstructures
•Samples designed ad-hoc for creep tests
•Electrostatic actuation
•Material: gold electroplated
•Typical configuration of microbridge based RF-MEMS switch

54
Experimental Investigation of Creep in Gold RF Microstructures
•Specimens with different geometric dimensions were tested at different temperatures and
actuation voltages.

Plate Length Plate Width Beam Length Beam Width Number of Plate Thickness Beam Thickness
(lp) (wp) (lb) (wb) Hole Size (tp) (tb)
holes

Specimen 1 150 150 94 12 49 10 6 2

Specimen 2 131.1 131.5 93.6 12.1 36 7.5 6.3 2.22

Specimen 3 132 132 93.4 12 36 7.8 6.3 2.20

Specimen 4 132.1 132 93.4 12 36 7.8 6.32 2.1

Specimen 5 132 132.1 93 12 36 7.9 6.28 2.21

Specimen 6 132 132 93.5 12 36 7.8 6.3 2.20

Specimen 7 132.1 132.1 93.5 12 36 13 6.3 2.35

Specimen 8 132.1 132 93.2 12.2 36 13 6.3 2.32

Specimen 9 132 132 93 12.2 36 13 6.3 2.3

* All the dimensions are in micrometers.

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Experimental Investigation of Creep in Gold RF Microstructures
•FEM modeling of thermal loading at 60 °C

z z
x y x y

(a) (b)

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Experimental Investigation of Creep in Gold RF Microstructures
•FEM modeling of electrostatic actuation at 60 V

z z
x y x y

(a) (b)

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MEMS Reliability; FEM Modelling and Experimental Characterization
Experimental Investigation of Creep in Gold RF Microstructures
•FEM modeling of BOTH thermal heating at 60 °C and electrostatic actuation at 60 V

z z
x y x y

(a) (b)
•Von- Mises stress is 104 Mpa
•Maximum upward deflection is 1.6 um

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MEMS Reliability; FEM Modelling and Experimental Characterization
Experimental Investigation of Creep in Gold RF Microstructures
•Experimental Setup:
• Accumulation of the creep strain measured by monitoring central plate deflection.
• Constant stress is applied by potential difference between top and bottom plate.
• Constant temperature is provided by Peltier cell with a temperature sensor.

(Experimental Setup)

(A single Die with multiple specimens)

(Peltier cell with temperature sensor) 59

Experimental Investigation of Creep in Gold RF Microstructures
•Experimental Results:

Typical creep strain-time curves

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Experimental Investigation of Creep in Gold RF Microstructures
•Repeatability test: Specimens with same dimensions and on separate dies to avoid;
• Size effects
• Sequential heating effects

Almost one-fourth of
the creep strains are
plastic and permanent
strains.

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Experimental Investigation of Creep in Gold RF Microstructures

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Experimental Investigation of Creep in Gold RF Microstructures
•Effect of creep on dynamic response
Before creep test After creep test (f final/f initial)
natural frequency natural frequency
(kHz) (f initial) (kHz) (f final)
Specimen 7 33.4 32.4 0.97
Specimen 8 33.6 32.3 0.96
Specimen 9 32.9 30.5 0.93

•Natural frequency (w) depends on the mechanical stiffness which depends on the Young’s modulus and
geometric parameters.

Before creep test natural After creep test natural frequency (f final/f initial)
frequency kHz ((f initial) kHz ((f final)
3D FEM with 3D FEM with
Experimental nominal Experimental decreased Experimental 3D FEM
stiffness stiffness
Specimen 7 33.4 33 32.4 32.1 0.97 0.97
Specimen 8 33.6 33.1 32.3 31.7 0.96 0.96
Specimen 9 32.9 32.6 30.5 30.3 0.93 0.93

A decrease of 6, 8 and 14 % in the Young’s modulus for the specimen 7, 8 and 9 respectively 63
Experimental Investigation of Creep in Gold RF Microstructures
•Effect of creep on static response
Before creep test After creep test (Vpi final/Vpi initial) After creep test
pull-in voltage (V) pull-in voltage permanent measured
(Vpi initial) (V) (Vpi final) central plate deflection
(um)
Specimen 7 97 89 0.92 0.14
Specimen 8 98 88 0.90 0.15
Specimen 9 90 79 0.88 0.12

•Pull-in Voltage depends on both the mechanical stiffness (k) which depends on the Young’s modulus and central
plate deflection (dave) after creep test.

Before creep test pull-in voltage (V) After creep test pull-in voltage (V) (Vpi final/Vpi initial)
(Vpi initial) (Vpi final)
3D FEM with 3D FEM with
Experimental nominal Experimental measured Experimental 3D FEM
stiffness deflection only
Specimen 7 97 96 89 91.2 0.92 0.95
Specimen 8 98 96.2 88 91 0.90 0.94
Specimen 9 90 89.4 79 81.8 0.88 0.91
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 Experimental Investigation of Creep in Gold RF Microstructures
•Effect of creep on static response

Before creep test pull-in voltage (V) After creep test pull-in voltage (V) (Vpi final/Vpi initial)
(Vpi initial) (Vpi final)
3D FEM with
3D FEM with both measured
Experimental nominal Experimental deflection and Experimental 3D FEM
stiffness decreased
stiffness
Specimen 7 97 96 89 88 0.92 0.916
Specimen 8 98 96.2 88 88 0.90 0.914
Specimen 9 90 89.4 79 78.4 0.88 0.876

•The variation in the natural frequency values measured before and after the creep test is
explained with the permanent reduction in the mechanical stiffness.
•This decrease in the mechanical stiffness is also verified by comparing the pull-in voltage values
before and after the creep tests.

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Experimental Investigation of Creep in Gold RF Microstructures
•Endurance Test under Repeated Loading
• One of the specimen is tested for creep endurance test under repeated loading.
• The specimen is tested by applying constant actuation voltage of 60V and temperature of 60°C for 24
hours and then allowing to relax for next 2 hours.
• Four consecutive cycles are applied.

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Experimental Investigation of Creep in Gold RF Microstructures
•Endurance Test under Repeated Loading

After creep test/Before

Before creep test After creep test creep test

Natural frequency (kHz) 33.8 28.8 0.85

Pull-in voltage (V) 104 85 0.82

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