Manufacturing Engineering Technology in SI Units, 6th Edition

Chapter 29:
Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

Chapter Outline

1. Introduction
2. Micromachining of MEMS Devices
3. The LIGA Microfabrication Process
4. Solid Free-form Fabrication of Devices
5. Nanoscale Manufacturing

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

Introduction

 Integrated circuits and products that operate on

electrical or electronic principle are called
microelectronic devices
 A micromechanical device has dimensions
between a few millimeters and atomic length
scales
 A microelectromechanical system (MEMS) is a
microelectromechanical device that incorporates
an integrated electrical system into one product
 Nanoscale manufacturing have products
dimensions between 10-6 and 10-9 m
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd
Micromachining of MEMS Devices
 Processes suitable for manufacturing devices
incorporate mechanical elements or features as
well
 Four types of devices that can be made through
the approach:
1. Microelectronic devices
2. Micromechanical devices
3. Microelectromechanical devices
4. Microelectromechanical systems
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd
Micromachining of MEMS Devices
 MEMS devices have been constructed from
polycrystalline silicon (polysilicon) and single-
crystal silicon
 Surrounding the MEMS device also limits the
performance of the device

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

Micromachining of MEMS Devices:
Bulk Micromachining
 Bulk micromachining uses orientation-dependent
etches on single-crystal silicon
 Depends on etching down into a surface and
stopping on certain crystal faces, doped regions,
and etchable films to form a desired structure
 Etchants will not be able to remove heavily boron
doped silicon and the patch will not be etched

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

Micromachining of MEMS Devices:
Surface Micromachining
 Basic steps in surface micromachining are
illustrated for silicon devices

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

Micromachining of MEMS Devices:
Surface Micromachining
 A microlamp will emit a white light when a
current is passed through it
 Produced through a combination of surface and
bulk micromachining
 The etchant used to remove the spacer layer must
be selected carefully
 Another difficulty that must
be overcome is stiction after
wet etching

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

Micromachining of MEMS Devices:
Surface Micromachining
 After the spacer layer has been removed, the
liquid etchant is dried from the wafer surface

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

Micromachining of MEMS Devices:
Surface Micromachining
EXAMPLE 29.1
Surface Micromachining of a Hinge
 Devices requiring very large vertical walls are
overcome by machining large, flat structures
horizontally and then rotating or folding them into
an upright position

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

Micromachining of MEMS Devices:
Surface Micromachining
EXAMPLE 29.1
Surface Micromachining of a Hinge
 The figure shows the cross section of a hinge
during its manufacture

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

Micromachining of MEMS Devices:
Surface Micromachining
CASE STUDY 29.1
Digital Micromirror Device
 The Texas Instruments digital pixel technology
(DPT™) device

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

Micromachining of MEMS Devices:
Surface Micromachining
CASE STUDY 29.1
Digital Micromirror Device
 Manufacturing sequence for the Texas
Instruments DMD device

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

Micromachining of MEMS Devices:
Surface Micromachining
CASE STUDY 29.1
Digital Micromirror Device
 Ceramic flat-package construction used for the
DMD device

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

Micromachining of MEMS Devices:
Surface Micromachining
SCREAM
 Stands for single-crystal silicon reactive etching
and metal
 Making of very deep MEMS structures

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

Micromachining of MEMS Devices:
Surface Micromachining
SIMPLE
 Stands for silicon micromachining by single-step
plasma etching
 Alternative to SCREAM

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

Micromachining of MEMS Devices:
Surface Micromachining
Etching Combined with Diffusion Bonding
 Very tall structures can be produced in crystalline
silicon through a combination of silicon-diffusion
bonding and deep reactive-ion etching

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

Micromachining of MEMS Devices:
Surface Micromachining
EXAMPLE 29.2
Operation and Fabrication Sequence for a
Thermal Ink-jet Printer
Sequence of operation of a thermal ink-jet printer

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

Micromachining of MEMS Devices:
Surface Micromachining
EXAMPLE 29.2
Operation and Fabrication Sequence for a
Thermal Ink-jet Printer
The manufacturing sequence for producing thermal
ink-jet printer heads

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

The LIGA Microfabrication Process
 LIGA process involves:
1. A very thick resist layer of PMMA is deposited
onto a primary substrate
2. PMMA is exposed to columnated X-rays and is
developed
3. Metal is electrodeposited onto the primary
substrate
4. PMMA is removed or stripped
5. Plastic injection molding takes place
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd
The LIGA Microfabrication Process
 Resist materials must have high X-ray sensitivity,
dry- and wet-etching resistance when unexposed,
and thermal stability
 Two newer forms of LIGA are UV-LIGA and
Silicon-LIGA
 The electrodeposition of metal usually involves
the electroplating of nickel

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

The LIGA Microfabrication Process

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

The LIGA Microfabrication Process
EXAMPLE 29.3
Production of Rare-earth Magnets
 Fabrication process used to produce rare-earth
magnets for microsensors

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

The LIGA Microfabrication Process
EXAMPLE 29.3
Production of Rare-earth Magnets
 SEM images of permanent magnets

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

The LIGA Microfabrication Process
Multilayer X-ray Lithography
 It is useful to have overhanging geometries within
complex MEMS devices
 A batch diffusion-bonding and release procedure
has been developed for this purpose

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

The LIGA Microfabrication Process
HEXSIL
 Combines hexagonal
honeycomb structures,
silicon micromachining,
and thin-film deposition
to produce high
-aspect-ratio, freestanding
structures

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

The LIGA Microfabrication Process
HEXSIL
 Microscale tweezers can be produced through the
HEXSIL process

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

Solid Free-form Fabrication of Devices

 Solid free-form fabrication is another term for

rapid prototyping
 Complex three-dimensional structures can be
produced through additive manufacturing

Microstereolithography
 Uses the same basic approach as
stereolithography

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

Solid Free-form Fabrication of Devices

Electrochemical Fabrication
 The solid free-form fabrication of MEMS devices
using instant masking is known as
electrochemical fabrication
 The mask is pressed against the
substrate in an electrodeposition bath
 Elastomer conforms to the substrate
and excludes the plating solution in
contact areas

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

Solid Free-form Fabrication of Devices

CASE STUDY 29.2

Accelerometer for Automotive Air Bags
 Accelerometer with a surface micromachined
capacitive sensor (center), on-chip excitation, and
self-test and signal-conditioning circuitry

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

Solid Free-form Fabrication of Devices

CASE STUDY 29.2

Accelerometer for Automotive Air Bags
 Preparation of IC chip for polysilicon

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

Solid Free-form Fabrication of Devices

CASE STUDY 29.2

Accelerometer for Automotive Air Bags
 Polysilicon deposition and IC metallization

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

Solid Free-form Fabrication of Devices

CASE STUDY 29.2

Accelerometer for Automotive Air Bags
 Prerelease preparation, and release

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

Nanoscale Manufacturing
 Parts are produced at nanometer length scales
 Many of the features in integrated circuits are at
this length scale, but very little else with
significant manufacturing relevance

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

Nanoscale Manufacturing
 Some top-down approaches:
1. Photolithography
2. Nanolithography
3. Dip Pen Nanolithography

 Bottom-up approaches include:

1. Dip pen nanolithography
2. Microcontact printing
3. Scanning tunneling microscopy
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd
Nanoscale Manufacturing

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd