MEMS Courses for Undergraduates
Azad Siahmakoun and Aaron Miller
Department of Physics and Optical EngineeringMicro-Nanoscale Devices & Systems (MiNDS) Facility
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
5500 Wabash Avenue CM 178
Terre Haute, Indiana 47803
Email: siahmako@rose-hulman.edu
Abstract— Two MEMS courses have been developed for all
science and engineering majors to learn basics of design,
fabrication, and characterization of MEMS devices. The first
course Introduction to MEMS is to introduce the essentials of
microfabrication technique by making heat actuators for
laboratory component. While the second course, Advanced Topics
in MEMS, covers in depth modeling, process flow,
photolithography, and microfluidics with projects for the
laboratory components.
Keywords-MEMS; undergraduate course; heat actuators
I. INTRODUCTION
Micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) are an
emerging technology with enormous impact in applications
ranging from biology to chemistry to optoelectronics and
holds great promise for the future. MEMS have the potential
to provide valuable vehicles for education as well as rich areas
for research [1]. With calls from industry to provide
undergraduate students more multidisciplinary experiences,
few areas of study can compete with the combination of
relevance, impact, and student engagement that undergraduate
courses in MEMS and nanotechnology can offer.
Eight faculty members from five different academic
departments of Rose-Hulman collaborated to develop two
courses in MEMS that are open to all science and engineering
majors of junior standing. In the first course, Introduction to
MEMS, students learn about the properties of materials and the
basics of microfabrication techniques and applications through
lecture and laboratory work in a cleanroom [1]. The second
course, Advanced MEMS, includes material on device
modeling, use of computer tools for layout and simulation, and
testing. The centerpiece of the second course is on a term-
length design project in which small groups of students design,
build and test a prototype of a specific MEMS device. These
courses are team-taught by 4-6 multidisciplinary faculty. A
total of 261 students have completed these 2 courses since
spring quarter of 2003. In this paper we will describe the
development of these two courses and their corresponding
laboratory.
II. THE FIRST COURSE
A. Introduction To Mems: Fabrication And Applications
The first course, Introduction to MEMS: Fabrication and
Applications is cross-listed by engineering departments:
978-1-4244-2485-6/08/$25.00 ©2008 IEEE
Biomedical, Chemical, Electrical and Computer, Mechanical,
and Optical as well as science departments Physics and
Chemistry. This course is offered every spring quarter and is
opened to any RHIT student with a junior standing. On the
average we have had an enrolment of 35 students per quarter
since 2003. The course notes are provided by the 8 instructors
lecturing and are assembled in textbook format published by
RHIT.
The intro MEMS course starts by an overview of
fabrication and applications of MEMS explaining why
MEMS? How are they made? and description of some
examples of commercial devices. This is followed by three
main sections: 1) Microfabrication, 2) Actuation and 3)
Applications and case studies.
In Part 1, we will focus on those unanswered questions
that arose during our simplified fabrication examples in the
overview. These topics include additive techniques (oxidation,
physical vapor deposition, and cvd); creating patterns (silicon
substrate and photolithography); micromachining (bulk
micromachining and surface micromachining); process flow
and process integration.
Part 2 examines the ways by which MEMS devices are
made to move, as well as some simple modeling of those
processes. These topics include: solid mechanics of thin films;
heat transfer; actuation and sensing (electrostatic/magnetic
actuation, piezo and RF devices, and thermal actuations).
Finally in Part 3, we examine a handful of specific MEMS
devices in detail. Fabrication, modeling and functionality
issues are all addressed in Part 3. This will give the reader an
opportunity to synthesize the material in Parts 1 and 2 in order
to gain a holistic, “big picture” perspective of MEMS.
If it has not already become apparent, MEMS is necessarily a
multidisciplinary endeavor, drawing upon physics, chemistry,
and all engineering fields - all in healthy doses. (And when
considering BIOMEMS, we can add life sciences to the mix as
well.) This text, however, assumes a background only in
freshmen level chemistry, physics and calculus, and should
therefore be accessible to undergraduate students in all
technical majors. It is intended to give the reader a good
overview of MEMS and to act as a springboard for further
study.
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B. Laboratory Experiments
The laboratory portion is carried out in a class 1000
cleanroom (1000 sqft) constructed in 2003(Fig.1). Students
use wireless HP-Tablets computers in the cleanroom to record
their measurements, images from micromanipulator system,
and results. At the end of each session each team will email all
their records via these Tablets.
Figure 1. Intro MEMS students are working on fabrication and
characterization of heat actuators.
The Intro to MEMS Class process flow has been refined
and is nearly finalized. The process is as follows:
1. RCA Clean wafer
2. Oxidize wafer for isolation layer
3. Photolithography for sacrificial layer
4. Evaporate Aluminum for structural layer
5. Photolithography to pattern Aluminum thin film
6. O2 Plasma to release and test actuators
postbake can cause the photoresist to release gasses, which are
trapped under the Al layer causing the layer to peel during the
second photolithography step.
The Electron Beam Evaporator is used to deposit the
aluminum layer. The layer has to be thick enough to
completely cover the sidewalls of the sacrificial layer.
However, excessive thickness can result in extreme
undercutting of the pattern. The ideal thickness appears to be ~
2.0-3.0 µm. Care must be taken not to leave the wafer in the
system for too long, as this can result in oxidizing the Al thin-
film on the wafer.
A second photolithography step is used to pattern the
aluminum layer. The S1813 photoresist is spun on at 5500
rpm, resulting in a thinner mask for etching the aluminum.
The process is similar to the first photolithography step;
however, care must be taken not to damage the aluminum
film. The photoresist must be softbaked in the Blue-M oven.
The photoresist is patterned using mask #2. After a hardbake
at 120°C, the aluminum film is etched (see Fig.2a). The
aluminum layer is chemically etched using a PAN etch
(Phosphoric-Acetic-Nitric at 40°C), an image of the wafer
after the PAN etch is shown by Fig.2b. Students can observe
the wafer using the CCD camera to ensure excessive
undercutting does not occur.

The RCA clean is a standard clean used to prepare the

wafers for oxidation. The wafers are oxidized to create an
insulating layer, eliminating the leakage current through the
Silicon wafer. This oxidation is a wet oxidation, run at
1000°C for 1 hour. This yields an oxide layer of
approximately 250 nm. The students are given wafers that (a)
have been oxidized under equal conditions to measure with the
Filmetrics F20 thin film thickness meter. This familiarizes the
students with an optical method of film thickness
measurement.

The process flow uses photoresist as the sacrificial layer.

Shipley S1813 photoresist is spun on at 3000 rpm, resulting in
thicknesses 1.75 – 2 µm after postbaking. The photoresist is
softbaked on a hotplate at 110°C for 30 seconds. After the
softbake, the photoresist is exposed using the Suss MicroTec
MJB4 mask aligner. The exposure energy is set to 500 on the (b)
aligner. Mask #1 is used in the Suss MicroTec aligner to Figure 2. Examples of heat actuators fabricated by students, (a)
pattern the sacrificial layer. The pattern is developed using patterning the Al thin film with S1813 photoresist, and (b) heat
Microposit 351 developer, diluted 1:3 in DI H2O. The actuator after the PAN etch and stripping the resist.
photoresist is then postbaked in the Blue-M oven for 20-30
minutes at 120-130°C. A thorough postbake is necessary to:
ensure the pattern will not be damaged in the E-Beam The release step is done using the O2 Plasma Asher. This is
evaporator and to prevent damage to the aluminum layer a dry release that does not require a Critical-Point dry. The
during the second photolithography step. Insufficient recipe for ashing/etching the resist is plotted and provides a

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power/pressure combination that removes all the resist and present their device and turn in an extensive final project
does not damage the heat actuators. After the completion of report.
this step, students characterize the released heat actuators
using the micromanipulator system.
III. THE SECOND COURSE
The second course, Advanced Topics in MEMS is also
cross-listed by the engineering and science departments with
prerequisite of the first course. This course is offered every
fall quarter so that the interested senior students, who were
juniors in the Intro MEMS class (spring quarter), can enroll.
On the average the Advanced MEMS course has had an
enrolment of 12 students per quarter since fall of 2003. The
course notes are provided by the 4-5 instructors that give the
lectures. This course provides professors with an arena in Figure 3. Advanced MEMS students are working on their projects.
which a topic of growing interest among the scientists and our
industrial affiliates can be developed.
C. Fabrication Systems and Facilities
A. Advanced Topics in MEMS ¾ E-beam and thermal evaporator
This course starts by an overview of fabrication processes ¾ Wet chemical processing stations
that were examined in the first MEMS course. This is typically ¾ Contact Aligner with IR backside Align
followed by three-four main topics: 1) Process Flow, 2) ¾ Projection aligner
Photolithography, 3) Microscale Modeling and Simulations, ¾ Spin-rinse-dry system
and 4) Microfluidics. ¾ Plasma Asher
¾ Photoresist spin coater system
In Part 1, we will focus on process flow and integration in ¾ Sputtering system
micromachining. These topics include: Review of process ¾ Critical-point dry apparatus
flow; issues effecting design choices; and trade-offs for a good ¾ Anodic bonding apparatus
process flow. While in part 2, we discuss advanced topics and ¾ High-temperature diffusion furnace
advances in the field of photolithography. These topics are: ¾ High-temperature oxidation furnace
photolithography essentials; immersion; condenser lens and ¾ Ultra-clean work-space
UV sources; conventional and phase-shift masks; photoresist;
exposure kinetics; and image formation.
D. Metrology and Testing Systems
In part 3, micro-electrical and micro-mechanical modeling ¾ X-Ray diffraction system
and simulation software FEMLAB by COMSOL is adopted as ¾ AFM – STM system
a tool for microscale design, heat flow, and heat actuation. ¾ Optical thin-film measurement system
Final topic in this course has been the popular subject among ¾ Scanning-electron microscope (SEM)
many chemists, chemical engineers and applied biologists ¾ Optical microscope
“Chemistry-lab-on-a-chip.” The microfluidics fundamentals, ¾ Micromanipulator system (2)
fabrication, and lab-on-a-chip as an application are discussed ¾ Digital image processing system
to cover this portion of the course. ¾ MEMS driver electronics
¾ Four-point probes
¾ Ellipsometer
B. Laboratory Experience
The laboratory portion of the course is a quarter long IV. CONCLUSIONS
project based. Students are given a statement of work (SOW)
that describes the MEMS device to be fabricated by a team of Two new MEMS courses with lab components have been
2 students. Students are required to reply to this SOW in one developed and implemented for Junior and senior. The intro
week that provides a schedule and detailed process flow. course is offered to all science and engineering majors of junior
standing without specialized background requirements. Our
However, students tools for fabrication and characterizations
experience shows that undergraduates can indeed learn about
are limited to the lists provided in the following sections C and
MEMS, regardless of their major field of study. A new
D. Majority of projects are heat actuator and Microfluidic textbook is under preparation that complements our hands-on
based MEMS devices. Typically, each student team spends teachings in the laboratory.
two 3-hour sessions for 7 weeks to complete a working
prototype (see Fig.3). At the end of the quarter teams are to

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 ACKNOWLEDGMENT REFERENCES
The authors would like to thank W. M. Keck Foundation [1] A. Siahmakoun, E. Wheeler, T. Adams, and S. Kirkpatrick,
“Undergraduate MEMS-Nano Courses for Everyone,” Materials Research
for providing the initial funding and support of the
Society 2006 Conference, San Francisco, CA, April 17-21, 2006.
development of the undergraduate MEMS laboratory at Rose-
Hulman Institute of Technology.

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