MODULE 4 MEMS (15EC831)

MODULE 4

SCALING LAWS IN MINIATURIZATION

Syllabus

Scaling Laws in Miniaturization

4.1 Introduction
4.2 Scaling in Geometry
4.3 Scaling in Rigid-Body Dynamics
4.4 Scaling in Electrostatic Forces
4.5 Scaling in Fluid Mechanics
4.6 Scaling in Heat Transfer

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4.1 Introduction to Scaling

• A successful industrial product requires meeting consumer expectations to be intelligent and

multifunctional.
• Sensors, actuators, and microprocessors have to be systematically integrated and packaged in
these products.
• The constraints on the size and geometry of the products require miniaturization of these
components to improve on physical appearance, volume, weight and economy.
• There are two types of scaling laws applicable to design of microsystems.
• The first type of scaling law is dependent on the size of objects- such as geometry.
• Here the behavior of the objects is governed by the law of physics
• Ex. Scaling law include the scaling of rigid-body dynamics and electrostatic and
electromagnetic forces.
• The second type of scaling law involves the scaling of phenomenological behavior of
microsystems.
• Here both the size and material properties of the system are involved.
• Ex this is used in thermos fluids in microsystems

4.2 Scaling in Geometry

• Volume and surface are two physical quantities that are frequently involved in micro device
design.
• Volume relates to the mass and weight of device components.
• Ex. thermal inertia is related to the heat capacity of the solid which is a measure of how fast we
can heat or cool a solid. This is used to design a thermally actuated device.
• Surface properties are related to pressure and the buoyant forces in fluid mechanics and heat
absorption or dissipation by a solid in convective heat transfer.
• To minimize a physical quantity, one must weigh the magnitudes of the possible consequences
of the reduction on both the volume and surface of the particular device.
• Equal reduction of volume and surface of an object is not normally achievable in a scale down
process.
• Consider the example of a solid of rectangular geometry having 3 sides a>b>c.

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• Volume V= abc and the Surface area S= length X breadth.

• If l represents the linear dimension of the solid, then Volume α l3 and the surface Sα l2.
• Thus S/V = l-1
• Consider an example in figure 6.2.

• Elephant has and S/V ratio of 10-4 /mm and dragonfly has10-1 /mm
• Hence dragon fly requires less energy and power and so low consumption of food and water,
while elephant needs more food to generate more energy.
• From the scaling formula, a reduction in size by 10 times(l=0.1) means 103 =1000 times
reduction in volume , but 102 =100 times reduction in surface area.
• A reduction of volume by 1000 means 1000 times reduction in weight.
• Micro mirrors are essential parts of micro switches used in fiber optic networks in
telecommunication.
• These mirrors rotate to a tightly controlled range at high rates.
• Angular momentum is an important factor in both rotation control and rate of rotation.

• Ex. Estimate the reduction of torque required in turning a micro mirror with a reduction of 50
percent in the dimensions.

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Solution: the torque required to turn the mirror about the y-y axis is related to mass moment of inertia
of the mirror Iyy, expressed as

Where M= mass of the mirror and C= width of the mirror

Since the mass of the mirror is M = ρV = ρ(bct),
Where ρ= mass density of the mirror material, the mass moment of inertial of the mirror is

The mass moment of inertial of the mirror with a 50 % reduction of the size becomes

A reduction of a factor of 32 is achieved in mass moment of inertia, giving 50% reduction of dimension.

4.3 Scaling in Rigid-Body Dynamics

• Forces are required to make parts move, and power is the source for the generation of forces.

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• Inertia decides the amount of force required to move a part and how fast movements can be
achieved and stopped.
• The inertia of a solid is related to its mass and the acceleration required to initiate or stop the
motion of a component.
• When minimized, the effect of reduction in the size on the power P, force F and pressure p and
the time t required to deliver the motion has to be seen

4.3.1 Scaling in Dynamic Forces

• If a solid moves from one position to another, the distance that the solid travels, S, is
S α l, where l stands for the linear scale.
The velocity v =s/t
• From particle kinematics, wkt

4.3.2 the Trimmer Force Scaling Vector

• Trimmer proposed a Force scaling vector F which is a unique matrix related to parameters
of acceleration a, time t and power density P/V0 required for scaling of systems in motion

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Accleration a:
• Consider F=Ma in which a = F/M
• Scaling is obtained as
•

Time t:
• Consider

•
• The transient time is expressed as
•

Power Density P/V0 :

• No solid or fluid can move without a power supply.
• Power is very important parameter in the design of microsystems.
• Insufficient power supply to a microsystem results in the inactivity of the system.
• System may suffer structural damage such as over heating with excessive power supply.
• Excessive power requirements increases the operational cost, reduce the lives of biomedical
devices implanted in human bodies.
• Wkt, Work done is equal to force times distance travelled W=F X s.
• Power is defined as work done per unit time P = W/t.
• Power density is expressed as

•
• Power density is related to force scaling vector as

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•
• Using this the scaling laws for rigid body dynamics is established

•
• This table is useful in scaling down devices in a design process
Ex.

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4.3 SCALING IN ELECTROSTATIC FORCES

• Consider the configuration of a parallel plate capacitor.

• The electric potential energy induced in the parallel plates is

•
•

• The above breakdown voltage V varies with the gap between the two plates as per paschen
effect.
• Fig 6.5 shows that the breakdown voltage V drops drastically with increase in d for d<5µm.
• It decreases after the gap widens from d>5µm.
• Voltage variation reverses at d ͌ 10µm.
• The breakdown voltage increases linearly as gap increases.
• We can say that applied voltage Vαd or in scaling Vαl1 for the working range of d˃ 10 µm
• The scaling of is neutral, so α
• The electrostatic potential is expressed

•
•

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•
• A factor of 10 decrease in linear dimensions(W,L,d) will decrease the potential energy by
a factor of 103 =1000
• Wkt, the electrostatic forces can be produced in 3 dimensions in parallel plate arrangements
as

• The three force components .

• The electrostatic forces are of the order 2.
Ex.

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• Here the gap d is constant and

• Fd α l2 for the normal force component
• Fw α l2 for the force component along the width
• FL α l2 for the normal force component along the length
• So, a reduction by a factor of 10 reduces the electrostatic forces by 100

Basics of fluid mechanics

• Many of the MEMS devices involve moving fluids in both liquid and gaseous forms.
• Mechanical designs of these systems requires the application of principles of fluid dynamics
and heat transfer.
• Fluids in motion are called fluid dynamics and at rest is called fluid statics.
• There are two types of fluids namely non-compressible fluids ex. Liquids and compressible
fluids ex. Gases.
• Fluids are aggregation of molecules.
• These molecules are closely spaced in solids, widely spaced in liquids and in gases they are
loosely spaced.
• These molecules are feely moving in liquids unlike solids. So liquids have volume and no shape.
• Solids can resist any shear force or shear stress without moving.
• Fluids have viscosity that causes friction when they are set in motion.
• Viscosity is a measure of fluid’s resistance to shear when the fluid is in motion.
• Hence a driving force if needed to make a fluid flow in channels
• A continuum fluid is a fluid with its properties continuously varying in space
• Fluids can be put into motion even by a slight shear force.
• The induced shear strain is expresses as angle θ

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• This shear deformation is considered possible by a relative motion of a pair of plates placed at
the top and bottom of the bulk fluid

ER

• The relative motion of the plates represents a shear force which causes the fluid flow.
• The associate shear stress τ is considered proportional to the rate of change of induced shear
strain θ given by

• The proportional constant µ is called the dynamic viscosity of the fluid

• Fluids that exhibit such linear relationship are called Newtonian fluids.

6.5 SCALING IN FLUID MECHANICS

•
• Fluids flow under the influence of shear forces or shear stresses and the continuum fluid
mechanics equations breaks down at submicrometer and nanoscales
• The breakdown is due to the capillary effect
• Consider the figure 6.7

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• The volume of the fluid V can be expressed as the area(A) X height(h).

• The fluid in originally in rectangular shape between two imaginary parallel plates
• Moving the top plate in the x direction to the right induces the motion of the fluid.
• The fluid shape now changes to parallelogram
• The shear stress applied is τ results in a velocity profile which is maximum at the top wall and
zero at the bottom wall.
• The viscosity of the fluid, causes the variation of the velocities in the moving fluid..
• Expressing viscosity as

•
• Figure 6.8 shows a fluid flow through a small circular conduit of length L and radius a.

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• The pressure drop over the length L is computed using Hagen-Poiseuille law as

• The rate of volumetric flow of the fluid Q is expressed as

•

•
• The pressure drop for a section of a capillary tube of length L is computed as

•
• The scaling laws for fluid flows in capillary tubes are derived as for volumetric flow and
for pressure drop per unit length, whre a is the radius of the tube.
•

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Ex.

Soln: wkt volumetric flow where a is the radius of the tube.

So volumetric flow reduces by 104 = 10000 times

Also pressure drop per unit length is so this increases by 102 = 100 times.

• When the radius of the conduit s very small, capillary effect appears.
• This is due to surface tension of the fluids.
• The pressure required to overcome the surface tension is
• So, the pressure drop per unit length of a liquid is
•

•
Ex. What will happen to the pressure drop in the fluid in above ex. If the tube radius is microscale?

Soln: the pressure drop per unit length of the tube, from the scaling law in equation increases
1000 times with a 10 times reduction of the tube radius.
The situation is one order of magnitude more severe than the case in meso or macroscale.

• Due to adverse effect in scaling down, special pumping techniques such as piezoelectric,
electro-osmotic, electrohydrodynamic pumping are used
• These are based on surface pumping forces. Ex. Piezoelectric pump.
• Here the forces generated on tube wall is used to drive the fluid flow is used.
• The surface force F, proportional to the surface area of the inner wall of the tube scales
favorably.
• This surface area of the inner wall of the tube is S= 2πaL and the volume of the fluid is V= πa2L
• The surface area to volume ration S/V = 2/a.
• Scaling down the tube radius will result in the increase of the surface force available for
pumping the unit volume of the fluid

6.6 SCALING IN HEAT TRANSFER

• In microsystems, heat transfer is an essential part of the design.
• Heat transfer is done by conduction, convection and by radiation in laser treatments.

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• Scaling laws are done in two scales, one being the meso and microscale and the other in sub
micrometer scale(<1µm).
• With this sub micrometer designs thermos physical properties vary with the size of MEMS.
6.6.1 Scaling in Heat Conduction
Basics
Heat conduction in a solid slab:

• In the figure, a solid slab with the temperature at the left side wall maintained a Ta and
the right side wall maintained at Tb with Ta > Tb
• The temperature difference causes the heat to flow from left side to right side of the slab.
• The total amount of heat flow through the slab, Q, is proportional to the cross-sectional
area A, the temp difference between the two faces, the time t allowed for the heat to
flow.
• The heat flow is inversely proportional to the distance that the heat has to travel, i.e.,
thickness d of the slab

K is the proportionality constant which is the thermal conductivity of the solid

6.6.1.1 Scaling in Heat Flux
• Heat flux q is defined as the heat flow per unit area and time.
• It is a vector quantity and is expressed as

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• This heat conduction in solids is governed by the Fourier Law

• For one dimensional heat conduction along the x co-ordinate, we have

•
• Where qx is the heat flux along x coordinate, k is the thermal conductivity of the solid
and T(x,y,z,t)is the temperature field in the solid in a Cartesian coordinate system at
time t.
• The heat conduction in a solid is

•
• From the above equation, the scaling law for heat conduction for solids in meso and
microscales is Qα l1 (A is replaced by α)
• So the reduction in size leads to the decrease of total heat flow in a solid
6.6.1.2 Scaling in Termal Conductivity in Submicrometer Regime
• Thermal conductivity k in solids is estimated by

• Here λ α 1/ρ, where ρ is the mass density of the solid with an order similar to volume
i.e., l3
• The scaling of heat flow in a solid in the sub micrometer regime is obtained by
combining the above two equations.

•
• So, a reduction in size of 10 would lead to a reduction of total heat flow by 100
6.6.1.3 Scaling in Effect of Heat Conduction in Solids of Meso and Micro scales
• F0 is the Fourier number with has no dimension
• It is used to determine the time increments in a transient heat conduction analysis

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•
• Here α is the thermal diffusivity of the material
• t is the time for heat to flow across the characteristic length L
• Fourier number is the ratio of the rate of heat transfer by conduction to the rate of energy
storage in the system.
• From the above equation, the scaling in time for heat conduction in a solid is

•
• Where both F0 and α are constants

Ex. Estimate the variation of the heat flow and the time required to transmit heat in a solid with a
reduction of size by a factor of 10
Soln: from the equations

and
the total heat flow and the time required for heat transmission are both reduced by 102 =100 times with
a reduction of size by a factor of 10

6.6.2 Scaling in Heat Convection

• There exists the boundary layers at the interfaces of solids and fluids.
• Heat transfer in fluids is in the mode of convection governed by Newton’s cooling law
expressed as

•
• Heat transfer h depends on the velocity of the fluid
• This does not play a significant role in scaling the heat flow.
• The total heat therefore depends on the cross-sectional area A, of the order of l2
• Therefore the scaling of heat transfer in convection is for fluids in meso and micro
regimes.
• Consider only the convective heat transfer of gases in the regime

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• When the gases pass in narrow channels at sub micrometer scale, the heat transfer break down.
• The convective heat transfer has become conduction of heat among the gas molecules due to
boundary layer effect
• Consider the figure given

• The passage is represented by a gap H <7λ, where λ is the mean free path of the gas
• The transfer of heat between the two plates is predominantly by conduction through the gas
between the plates rather than convection.
• The mean free path is proportional to the reciprocal of mass density of gas as

• The thermal conductivity of the gas is given by

• C is the specific heat of the gas at constant volume and the mean velocity V is obtained from

•
• Here T is the mean temperature of the gas and m is the molecular weight of the gas

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