Name: Roll Number

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, HAMIRPUR

Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering
Mid-Semester Exam (Ist Semester 2019-20)
ECE-667: MEMS and SENSOR DESIGN [Session: B]
Max. Marks : 30 Date: 19/09/2019 Duration: 01 hours 30 minutes
• This question paper contains two pages. Please read the question carefully before answering.

1. Attempt any 5 of the following. Each question carry equal marks. [10]

(a) List one example each of commercial microfluidic, electrical/mechanical and electri-
cal/thermal MEMS product.

(b) List the major advantages of using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) versus physical
vapor deposition (PVD) for thin films.

(c) Briefly describe the process you will use for depositing a thin film of Si3 N4 on silicon
substrate.

(d) List any two techniques for doping of the silicon substrates. Briefly explain one of them.

(e) List any three main disadvantages of wet etching over dry etching.

(g) Sketch a block diagram showing major steps in the LIGA process for micromanufacturing.
List any two materials that can be used as substrate in the LIGA process.

2. (a) Sketch a surface micromachining process flow for fabricating the microstructure ( a
polysilicon cantilever beam on a silicon substrate) as shown in Fig. 1. Briefly explain
each step with suitable diagrams. [4]

Figure 1: A Polysilicon cantilever on a Silicon substrate

(b) Explain any two mechanical problems that might occur in the surface micromachining
process. [2]
3. (a) What is deep reactive ion etching (DRIE)? What are the advantages of DRIE over plasma
etching ? [2]

Figure 2: Anisotropic etching in silicon

(b) Explain the difference between isotropic and anisotropic etching. Given a < 100 >
oriented Si substrate as shown in Fig. 3. A hole is to be fabricated using anisotropic
etching. A 10 µm opening is desired at the front side. Determine the designed size of the
window at the back-side. Assume the negligible etch rate on < 111 > surface. [1.5+2]

(c) What is the need for etch stop? Briefly explain any etch stop technique. [1.5]

4. (a) A MEMS system is simplified into a classic mass-spring-damper system as shown in Fig.
2(a) below. Write the governing differential equation of the system. Find the equivalent
electrical model for the system and find the resonant frequency. [4]

(b)
(a)

Figure 3: Figure for Problem 2

(b) Derive the expression for volume change of a three-dimensional differential volume ele-
ment (as shown in Fig. 2(b)) subject to a uniaxial stress σx . Assume that the Poisson
ratio ν is same in all direction. [3]