MEMS-MicroElectroMechanical

System
UNIT-I
VIII Sem
Department of Electronics Engg.
 Difference Between IC and MEMS
 An integrated circuit (IC), sometimes called a chip or microchip, is a
semiconductor wafer on which thousands or millions of tiny resistors,
capacitors, and transistors are fabricated. An IC can function as an
amplifier, oscillator, timer, counter, computer memory, or
microprocessor. A particular IC is categorized as either linear (analog)
or digital, depending on its intended application.

 Micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) is a technology that

combines computers with tiny mechanical devices such as sensors,
valves, gears, mirrors, and actuators embedded in semiconductor
chips.
MEMS fabrication is developed from IC fabrication. Many techniques
and materials used in IC fabrication are reused in MEMS fabrication
for the advantages of low cost, high reliability and performance.
However, MEMS fabrication is still different from IC fabrication at
some aspects.
1.Unconventional Materials - Besides the conventional materials
used in IC fabrication, MEMS fabrication also use other materials.
MEMS can also be made from quartz, ceramics, and polymide etc.
2. Lack of Standard Processes - IC fabrications have converged to
certain standard processes, which can be used to implement all kinds
of circuit functions, while MEMS fabrication is much more
customized and diversified among different applications and different
foundries. For example, pressure sensors and inkjet printing nozzles
are fabricated by bulk micromachining, and airbag accelerometers and
micromirror projection arrays are fabricated by surface
micromachining. There is currently no library of design rules available
for MEMS
3.Feature Size - Feature size of MEMS fabrication is normally larger
than IC fabrication. When IC fabrication feature size has shrink to
25nm, the smallest features of MEMS devices are still in 0.5um to
1um range. This translates to cheaper mask cost than IC fabrication.

4.Mechanical Properties - MEMS fabrication cares about the

mechanical properties (such as residue stress, density, young’s
modulus etc.) much more than IC fabrication. Because the purpose of
MEMS fabrication is to make micromachines, we more care about
their mechanical properties, especially for material forming the
structures. Thus optimization of process settings to control the
mechanical properties of structural materials are crucial in MEMS
fabrication.
 Introduction to MEMS
 A MEMS (microelectromechanical system) is a miniature
machine that has both mechanical and electronic components.
 It is the technology of microscopic devices ,particularly those
with moving parts.
 It merges at the nano-scale into nanoelectromechanical
system(NEMS) and nanotechnology.
 Micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) is a process
technology used to create tiny integrated devices or systems that
combine mechanical and electrical components.
 The physical dimension of a MEMS can range from several
millimeters to less than one micrometer, a dimension many times
smaller than the width of a human hair.
 They are fabricated using integrated circuit (IC) batch processing
techniques.
 MEMS are made up of components between 1 and 100
micrometer in size(0.001 to 0.1 mm) and MEMS devices
generally range in size from 20 micrometers to a
millimeter(i.e. 0.02 to 1.0mm) ,although components
arranged in arrays (e,g, digital micromirror devices ) can be
more than 1000mm2.
 MEMS fabrication allows microsensors, which gather data,
and micro-actuators which convert energy into motion to
integrate on the substrate.
These devices (or systems) have the ability to sense, control
and actuate on the micro scale, and generate effects on the
macro scale.
The label MEMS is being used to describe both a category of
micromechatronic devices and the processes used when
manufacturing them.
Some MEMS don’t even have mechanical parts, yet they are
classified as MEMS because they miniaturize structures
used in conventional machinery, such as springs, channels,
cavities, holes and membranes.
Because some MEMS devices convert a measured mechanical
signal into an electrical or optical signal, they may also be
referred to as transducers.
MEMS, an acronym that originated in the United States In
Japan, MEMS are more commonly known as
micromachines, and in European countries, MEMS are
more commonly referred to as microsystems technology
(MST). In the United States, the acronym “MEMS” rhymes
with the word “stems.”

While the device electronics are fabricated using ‘computer

chip’ IC technology, the micromechanical components are
fabricated by sophisticated manipulations of silicon and
other substrates using micromachining processes.
 Why Use MEMS?
• Motivation and Benefits
– Small Size
– Light Weight
– Enhanced Performance & Reliability
• high resolution devices
• array of devices
– Low Cost (from batch fabrication)

• Applications– Automotive System

– Health Care
– Automated Manufacturing
– Instrumentation
– Environmental Monitoring & Control
– Consumer Products
– Aerospace
MEMS-based Microsystems
– highly integrated systems
– sensing
– actuation
– computation
– control
– communication
In the most general form, MEMS consist of mechanical
microstructures, micro sensors, micro actuators and microelectronics,
all integrated onto the same silicon chip. This is shown schematically
in Figure 1.
• Micro sensors detect changes in the system’s environment by
measuring mechanical, thermal, magnetic, chemical or
electromagnetic information or phenomena.
• Microelectronics process this information and signal the
microactuators to react and create some form of changes to the
environment.

• MEMS devices are very small; their components are usually

microscopic. Levers, ears, pistons, as well as motors and even steam
engines have all been fabricated by MEMS
Classification
Figure 3 illustrates the classifications of
microsystems technology (MST).
Although MEMS is also referred to as
MST, strictly speaking, MEMS is a
process technology used to create these
tiny mechanical devices or systems, and
as a result, it is a subset of MST.

• The real difference between MEMS and MST is that MEMS tends to use
semiconductor processes to create a mechanical part.
• In contrast, the deposition of a material on silicon for example, does not
constitute MEMS but is an application of MST.
• Transducer
A transducer is a device that transforms one form of signal or energy
into another form. The term transducer can therefore be used to
include both sensors and actuators and is the most generic and
widely used term in MEMS.
• Sensor
A sensor is a device that measures information from a surrounding
environment and provides an electrical output signal in response to
the parameter it measured. Over the years, this information (or
phenomenon) has been categorized in terms of the type of energy
domains but MEMS devices generally overlap several domains or
do not even belong in any one category.
• These energy domains include:
 Mechanical - force, pressure, velocity, acceleration, position
 Thermal - temperature, entropy, heat, heat flow
 Chemical - concentration, composition, reaction rate
 Radiant - electromagnetic wave intensity, phase, wavelength,
polarization reflectance, refractive index, transmittance .
 Magnetic - field intensity, flux density, magnetic moment,
permeability.
 Electrical - voltage, current, charge, resistance, capacitance,
polarization [4,5,6,7]
• Actuator
An actuator is a device that converts an electrical signal into an action.
It can create a force to manipulate itself, other mechanical devices, or
the surrounding environment to perform some useful function.
Nanoelectromechanical systems(NEMS)
 A class of devices integrating electrical and mechanical functionality on the
nanoscale. NEMS form the logical next miniaturization step from so-called
microelectromechanical systems, or MEMS devices.
 NEMS typically integrate transistor-like nanoelectronics with mechanical actuators,
pumps, or motors, and may thereby form physical, biological, and chemical sensors.
 The name derives from typical device dimensions in the nanometer range.
Material for MEMS :
• Primary material is Silicon as VLSI technology is used for
manufacturing .
Properties of Silicon:
• Stronger than steel.
• Light as Aluminum.
• Can be coated with varieties of materials.
• Available in form of Wafers of 2", 4", 8", 12" dia.
Other materials
• Polycrystalline silicon (polysilicon) .
• Silicon dioxide (SiO2), Silicon nitride (Si3N4 ).
• Aluminum (thin film) .
• Gold (thin film) .
• Doping of silicon .
This particularly used for stopping the chemical etching process.
Material families
 Semiconductor(mainly silicon)
 Metal and alloys
 Ceramics
 Polymers

Metal & Alloys

Thick metal films used as structural materials for final devices.
 Use of microelectrolating and photoframing technique to build thick metal structures.
 Electroplating of Ni,Cu,Au to from thick metal structures.
 3D stainless steel microparts by photoframing .
 Permanent magnetic material for magnetic actuation(copper-nickel-magnetic)

Polymers for mems

(structural & functional material)
 Elasticity ,optical, biocomatibility.
 Strain guages, capacitors(microsensors)
 Microactuators(polymide)
 Magnetic microactuators
 Electronic material(polymer trasistors)
 Single crystal polymer,
Ceramics for mems
 Inorganic material(metallic & non metallic elements) chemically bonded together.
 E.g Al2 O3,SiO2,Si3N4,Nacl,YBa2Cu3O6.
 ceramic micro sensors for high temp environment.
 Silicon carbide mems for harsh environment.
Composite materials
 Composite material is combination of two or more material from other 4 groups
 Used as passive material in microsensors & mems
 Smart materials when used as active material
 Electroactive sensors in electronic nose.

Crystalline
 materials show long range regular order and periodic arrangement of atoms in a
crystal is called lattice.
Polycrystalline
Regular order over small region Amorphous material show no order.
Silicon (crystalline) silicon has diamond cubic structure bonded with
Mechanical properties of materials
Axial stress and strain
 Force applied axial or normal to the surface and assume no change in diameter
/area only change in length.
 Axial stress=force/area= σ =N/m2
 Normal strain= ε =Δl/L=unitless
 Young’s modulus, elastic modulus=E=σ/ε
 MEMS Technology
• MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical System) is a technology
that is widely used nowadays.

• MEMS is short for Micro Electro Mechanical System.

Micro-small size, micro fabricated structures
Electro-electrical signal
Mechanical - mechanical functionality
Systems - structures, devices.

• MEMS is basically an integrated system which works on

microscale technology. It performs a number of functions.
Some of the functions are as follows.
1. It converts physical stimuli and parameters into electrical,
mechanical and optical signals and vice versa.
2.Perform functions such as actuation sensing etc
• Basically MEMS is system which consists of
microstructures, microsensors, microelectronics
and micro actuators as shown in the figure below.
MEMS – Origin
 In the beginning of 1990s MEMS was developed in
integrated circuits(IC) as sensors, actuators and control
functions which are fabricated in Silicon.
 Micromachining is fundamental technology used for
fabrication of MEMS devices.
 Micromachining technique uses semiconductor process
technologies to fabricate mechanical devices and
components on silicon.
MEMS – Advantages of MEMS
Advantages of MEMS are as follows
1.MEMS reduces energy
2. Cost or performance advantages that means for
airbag system having accelerometer has a cost of
only Rs.150 and for conventional sensors it is
around Rs.3000
3. With MEMS, integration with electronics is
possible.
4. Reduction of power budgets.
5. Faster devices.
MEMS – Applications
MEMS is used for the following applications:
1. Turbulence control- Turbulence reduces axial flow velocity and
thus has many problems in aerospace industry. Due to MEMS flow
control of engine with micro sensors and micro actuators becomes
precise.
2. Biotechnology- MEMS enables new inventions in science and
engineering of biotechnology.
3. Accelerometer- MEMS accelerometer sensors are used in air bag
systems and various acceleration sensors.
Because of various advantages MEMS has multidisciplinary functions
in various fields as follows:
1. Quantum mechanics
2. Chemistry
3. Biology
4. Light
5. Mechanics
6. Heat 7. Sound 8. Fluid flow 9. Electricity and 10. Magnetism.
 Micro-Opto-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MOEMS)
 are not a special class of Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems
(MEMS) but rather the combination of MEMS merged with
Micro-optics; this involves sensing or manipulating optical
signals on a very small size scale using integrated
mechanical, optical, and electrical systems.
 MOEMS includes a wide variety of devices including
optical switch, optical cross-connect, tunable VCSEL,
microbolometers amongst others.
 These devices are usually fabricated using micro-optics and
standard micromachining technologies using materials like
silicon, silicon dioxide, silicon nitride and gallium arsenide.
Optical MEMS
 Why MEMS used in optics
 The wavelength of light is in the um range as the MEMS
smallest features.
 Micro –forces generated by micro-actuators have no
difficulty in acting on mass less photons .A photon has no
mass, so easy to deflect light.
 Miniature optical elements capable of moving and
managing light.
 Directly manipulate an optical signal eliminating
unnecessary optical-electrical –optical conversion.
 The effect of moving optical elements is stronger than
electrooptics ,thermal optic effect.
 Very efficient beam steering devices can be made.
 Optical MEMS Applications
• Micro-optical systems presently have application in
the following areas:
Optical Scanning
• - Medicine (minimally invasive surgery)
• - Small Space Inspection
Optical Alignment
• Optical Communication
- Switching
- Optical Filtering
- Spectrometry (Wavelength Separation)
-Adaptive Optics and Free Space Communication
 Advantages of Optical MEMS
• Easy to manipulate light
- Optical systems involve photon re-direction, therefore, since
photons have very little momentum, micro-actuators are easily
able to manipulate photons.
• Simplified packaging
- Optical MEMS can be sealed in packages with transparent
housings, which allows light to pass through a glass window.
- This allows the optical device to be protected from dust and
harsh environmental conditions, unlike flow sensors, or micro
tactile sensors, or other MEMS where the source of
signal/phenomena must be in direct contact with the chip
surface.
• Device size
- Able to pack a large number of devices into a relatively small
area/volume.
 Fabrication
• Silicon is dominant material for fabrication.
• Conventional IC
processes(lithography,deposition,implantation ,dry
etching,etc.) are often used in microstructure
formation.
• Micromachining is the process of shaping silicon or
other material to realize 3-D mechanical structures
in mechanical form and the mechanical devices that
are compatible with micro electronic devices.
Bulk Micromachining:
oldest micromachining technology
technique involves selective removal of substrate to
produce mechanical components
 accomplished by physical or chemical process with
chemical being used more for MEMS production
 chemical wet etching is popular because of high etch rate
and selectivity
 isotropic wet etching: etch rate not dependent on
crystallographic orientation of substrate and etching
moves at equal rates in all directions
 anisotropic wet etching: etch rate is dependent on
crystallographic orientation of substrate
 Example Application:
DLP (Digital Light Processing)
• The DLP micro-optical projection system was
developed by Texas Instruments.
• It uses a matrix of micro-mirrors to selectively
switch reflected light, to form a projected matrix of
pixels.

Individual Digital Micro Mirror Constituent Parts of the Digital Micro

[Texas Instruments] Mirror [Texas Instruments]
• Each mirror is 11 x 11 um in size, and a matrix may
consist of 1024 x 768 mirrors, or more.

Matrix of Micro-mirrors Individual Micro-mirror

[Texas Instruments] [Texas Instruments]
• By selectively switching the mirrors on and off in the presence
of a light source, the mirrors will reflect the light source
‘toward’ or ‘away’ the optical path that forms the projected
image.
To create the complete projection system, the DMD (Digital Micromirror
Device) is used with a light source, optics, a color filter and a projection
lens.

Constituent Parts of the Complete DLP DMD Chip in Package with Transparent
Projection System [Texas Instruments] Cover [Texas Instruments]
Optical Communication Systems
• A large area of MEMS research is in the area of optical
communication.
• To understand MEMS optical systems, we must become
familiar with a number of sub-systems that are used
within a typical optical communication system.
These are:
- Optical Fibers
- Lasers and laser diodes
- Optical receivers (photodetector)
- Focusing lenses
- Diffraction lenses and gratings
- Mirrors
 Bio-MEMS
 Bio-MEMS is an abbreviation for biomedical (or
biological) microelectromechanical systems.
 Bio-MEMS have considerable overlap, and is sometimes
considered synonymous, with lab-on-a-chip (LOC) and
micro total analysis systems (μTAS).
 Bio-MEMS is focused on mechanical parts and micro
fabrication technologies made suitable for biological
applications.
 On the other hand, lab-on-a-chip is concerned with
miniaturization and integration of laboratory processes and
experiments into single (often microfluidic) chips.
 The interdisciplinary nature of bio-MEMS combines
material sciences, clinical sciences, medicine, surgery,
electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, optical
engineering, chemical engineering, and biomedical
engineering.
 Some major applications include genomics, proteomics,
molecular diagnostics, point-of-care diagnostics, tissue
engineering, single cell analysis and implantable
microdevices.
Materials
Silicon and glass
Conventional micromachining techniques such as wet
etching, dry etching, deep reactive ion etching,
sputtering, anodic bonding, and fusion bonding have
been used in bio-MEMS to make flow channels, flow
sensors, chemical detectors, separation capillaries,
mixers, filters, pumps and valves.
• Plastics and polymers
 Using plastics and polymers in bio-MEMS is attractive
because they can be easily fabricated, compatible with
micromachining and rapid prototyping methods, as well as
have low cost.
 Many polymers are also optically transparent and can be
integrated into systems that use optical detection techniques
such as fluorescence, UV/Vis absorbance, or Raman method.
 Moreover, many polymers are biologically compatible,
chemically inert to solvents, and electrically insulating for
applications where strong electrical fields are necessary such
as electrophoretic separation.
 Surface chemistry of polymers can also be modified for
specific applications.The most common polymers used in
bio-MEMS include PMMA, PDMS, OSTEmer and SU-8.
Bio-MEMS as Miniaturized Biosensors
 Biosensors are devices that consist of a biological
recognition system, called the bioreceptor, and a
transducer.
 The interaction of the analyte with the bioreceptor
causes an effect that the transducer can convert into a
measurement, such as an electrical signal.
 The most common bioreceptors used in biosensing are
based on antibody–antigen interactions, nucleic acid
interactions, enzymatic interactions, cellular
interactions, and interactions using biomimetic
materials.
 Common transducer techniques include mechanical
detection, electrical detection, and optical detection.
 RF MEMS
A radio frequency microelectromechanical system
(RFMEMS) is a microelectromechanical systems
with electronic components comprising moving
sub-millimeter-sized parts that provide radio
frequency functionality.
RF functionality can be implemented using a variety
of RF technologies.
• Besides RF MEMS technology, III-V compound
semiconductor (GaAs, GaN, InP, InSb), ferrite,
ferroelectric, silicon-based semiconductor (RF
CMOS, SiC and SiGe), and vacuum tube technology
are available to the RF designer.
• Each of the RF technologies offers a distinct trade-
off between cost, frequency, gain, large-scale
integration, lifetime, linearity, noise figure,
packaging, power handling, power consumption,
reliability, ruggedness, size, supply voltage,
switching time and weight.
Components used
• The components are based on RF MEMS switches, switched
capacitors and varactors. These components can be used
instead of FET and HEMT switches (FET and HEMT transistors
in common gate configuration), and PIN diodes.
• RF MEMS switches, switched capacitors and varactors are
classified by actuation method (electrostatic, electrothermal,
magnetostatic, piezoelectric), by axis of deflection (lateral,
vertical), by circuit configuration (series, shunt), by clamp
configuration (cantilever, fixed-fixed beam), or by contact
interface (capacitive, ohmic).
• Electrostatically-actuated RF MEMS components offer low
insertion loss and high isolation, linearity, power handling and
Q factor, do not consume power, but require a high control
voltage and hermetic single-chip packaging (thin film capping,
LCP or LTCC packaging) or wafer-level packaging (anodic or
glass frit wafer bonding).
• RF MEMS switched capacitors are capacitive fixed-fixed
beam switches with a low capacitance ratio. RF MEMS
varactors are capacitive fixed-fixed beam switches which
are biased below pull-in voltage. Other examples of RF
MEMS switches are ohmic cantilever switches, and
capacitive single pole N throw (SPNT) switches based on
the axial gap wobble motor.
• RF MEMS resonators are applied in filters and
reference oscillators.RF MEMS switches, switched
capacitors and varactors are applied in
electronically scanned (sub)arrays (phase shifters)
and software-defined radios (reconfigurable
antennas, tunable band-pass filters).