Suppression of Stiction in MEMS

1999 ◽  
Vol 605 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. H. Mastrangelo
Keyword(s):  
Surface Treatment ◽  
Yield Loss ◽  
Microelectromechanical Systems ◽  
Failure Mechanisms ◽  
Failure Rates ◽  
Paper Briefly ◽  
Restoring Force ◽  
Device Failure ◽  
Dominant Source ◽  
Device Operation

AbstractStiction failures in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) occur when suspended elastic members are unexpectedly pinned to their substrates. This type of device failure develops both in fabrication and during device operation, being a dominant source of yield loss in MEMS. Stiction failures require first a collapse force that brings the elastic member contact with the substrate followed by an intersolid adhesion sufficiently large to overcome the elastic restoring force. Stiction failure mechanisms have been studied extensively elsewhere [1]. This paper briefly summarizes these mechanisms in a the practical way. Over the last decade, stiction failure rates in MEMS have been minimized using a wide variety of processing, surface treatment, and physical schemes. An update of these methods is provided.

Investigation of device failure mechanisms in polymer light-emitting diodes

1997 ◽  
Vol 85 (1-3) ◽  
pp. 1213-1214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramesh K. Kasim ◽  
Yang Cheng ◽  
Martin Pomerantz ◽  
Ronald L. Elsenbaumer
Keyword(s):  
Light Emitting Diodes ◽  
Failure Mechanisms ◽  
Light Emitting ◽  
Device Failure ◽  
Polymer Light Emitting Diodes

Cartilage Surface Treatment: Factors Affecting Success and Failure Mechanisms

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 150711
Author(s):  
Gergo Merkely ◽  
Jack Farr ◽  
Daniel Saris ◽  
Christian Lattermann
Keyword(s):  
Surface Treatment ◽  
Failure Mechanisms ◽  
Cartilage Surface ◽  
Factors Affecting

Three-Dimensional Elastic-Plastic Fractal Analysis of Surface Adhesion in Microelectromechanical Systems

1998 ◽  
Vol 120 (4) ◽  
pp. 808-813 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Komvopoulos ◽  
W. Yan
Keyword(s):  
Microelectromechanical Systems ◽  
Van Der Waals ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Surface Adhesion ◽  
Restoring Force ◽  
Elastic Plastic ◽  
Surface Separation ◽  
High Adhesion ◽  
Interfacial Force ◽  
Asperity Deformation

High adhesion is often encountered at contact interfaces of miniaturized devices, known as microelectromechanical systems, due to the development of capillary, electrostatic, and van der Waals attractive forces. In addition, deformation of contacting asperities on opposing surfaces produces a repulsive interfacial force. Permanent surface adhesion (referred to as stiction) occurs when the total interfacial force is attractive and exceeds the micromachine restoring force. In the present study, a three-dimensional fractal topography description is incorporated into an elastic-plastic contact mechanics analysis of asperity deformation. Simulation results revealing the contribution of capillary, electrostatic, van der Waals, and asperity deformation forces to the total interfacial force are presented for silicon/silicon and aluminum/aluminum material systems and different mean surface separation distances. Results demonstrate a pronounced effect of surface roughness on the micromachine critical stiffness required to overcome interfacial adhesion.

Tailoring of Stress Development in MEMS Packaging Systems

2002 ◽  
Vol 741 ◽  
Author(s):  
Satyajit S. Walwadkar ◽  
Junghyun Cho ◽  
P.W. Farrell ◽  
Lawrence E. Felton
Keyword(s):  
Microelectromechanical Systems ◽  
Inertial Sensors ◽  
Thermal Exposure ◽  
Origin And Evolution ◽  
Mems Packaging ◽  
Operation Conditions ◽  
Die Attach ◽  
Device Operation ◽  
Different Levels ◽  
Good Agreement

ABSTRACTA better understanding of the origin and evolution of the stresses is a crucial step in improving reliability of packaging systems for microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). Given its importance, we examine the stresses developed in hermetically packaged MEMS inertial sensors. For this purpose, an optical surface profilometer is employed to assess the stresses by measuring the curvature of dummy silicon dies (3.5×3.5 mm2) assembled in different types of packages and die attach adhesives. We also explore a temporal evolution of stresses during thermal exposure of the test packages in an effort to emulate actual packaging processes and device operation conditions. The result shows different levels of stresses generated from various adhesives and package types, and also a stress evolution during packaging processes. The mechanical stress data also show a good agreement with MEMS performance data obtained from actual accelerometers. Therefore, the stress data will not only be useful in better understanding performance of MEMS packages, but the testing protocol can also provide a diagnostic tool for very small packaging systems.

scholarly journals A Little Knowledge

2003 ◽  
Vol 125 (10) ◽  
pp. 48-51
Author(s):  
Stuart B. Brown
Keyword(s):  
Power Consumption ◽  
Product Design ◽  
Crack Growth ◽  
Microelectromechanical Systems ◽  
Failure Mechanisms ◽  
Good News ◽  
Natural Evolution ◽  
Initial Product ◽  
Design Concepts

This article explains microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) design concepts that are under investigation for their application in different domains. MEMS provide numerous performance advantages. Miniaturization improves packaging and simplifies installation and maintenance. Power consumption can drop dramatically. Analysis shows that appropriate hermeticity and cleanliness remain a challenge, because sufficient contamination to introduce frequency drift may result from the migration of trace contaminants within a package itself. Many reliability issues apply to different MEMS in diverse ways. Work to date indicates that low-stress, hermetically packaged devices pose little concern about crack growth. The increasing maturity of MEMS and the emphasis on reliability represents good news for the industry, as it reflects the natural evolution from initial product design to fabrication technologies to long-term reliability. Despite current challenges, there is no fundamental constraint to reliability improvements as our knowledge of failure mechanisms and countermeasures increases.

scholarly journals On MEMS Reliability and Failure Mechanisms

2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel J. Fonseca ◽  
Miguel Sequera
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Design Process ◽  
Manufacturing Process ◽  
Failure Modes ◽  
Microelectromechanical Systems ◽  
Failure Mechanisms ◽  
Production Cycle ◽  
Operating Cycle ◽  
Operational Failure ◽  
The Military

Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) are a fast-growing field in microelectronics. MEMS are commonly used as actuators and sensors with a wide variety of applications in health care, automotives, and the military. The MEMS production cycle can be classified as three basic steps: (1) design process, (2) manufacturing process, and (3) operating cycle. Several studies have been conducted for steps (1) and (2); however, information regarding operational failure modes in MEMS is lacking. This paper discusses reliability in the context of MEMS functionality. It also presents a brief review of the most relevant failure mechanisms for MEMS.

scholarly journals Electrolyte-Dependent Modification of Resistive Switching in Anodic Hafnia

Nanomaterials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 666
Author(s):  
Ivana Zrinski ◽  
Cezarina Cela Mardare ◽  
Luiza-Izabela Jinga ◽  
Jan Philipp Kollender ◽  
Gabriel Socol ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Failure Mechanisms ◽  
Atomic Scale ◽  
Structure Conservation ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
Microscope Images ◽  
Endurance Tests ◽  
Switching Dynamic ◽  
Dependent Modification ◽  
Temperature Heating ◽  
Device Operation

Anodic HfO2 memristors grown in phosphate, borate, or citrate electrolytes and formed on sputtered Hf with Pt top electrodes are characterized at fundamental and device levels. The incorporation of electrolyte species deep into anodic memristors concomitant with HfO2 crystalline structure conservation is demonstrated by elemental analysis and atomic scale imaging. Upon electroforming, retention and endurance tests are performed on memristors. The use of borate results in the weakest memristive performance while the citrate demonstrates clear superior memristive properties with multilevel switching capabilities and high read/write cycling in the range of 106. Low temperature heating applied to memristors shows a direct influence on their behavior mainly due to surface release of water. Citrate-based memristors show remarkable properties independent on device operation temperatures up to 100 °C. The switching dynamic of anodic HfO2 memristors is discussed by analyzing high resolution transmission electron microscope images. Full and partial conductive filaments are visualized, and apart from their modeling, a concurrency of filaments is additionally observed. This is responsible for the multilevel switching mechanism in HfO2 and is related to device failure mechanisms.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document