Mechanical Reliability of Silicon Microstructures

In this article, an overview of the mechanical reliability of silicon microstructures for micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) is given to clarify what we now know and what we still have to know about silicon as a high-performance mechanical material on the microscale. Focusing on the strength and fatigue properties of silicon, attempts to understand the reliability of silicon and to predict the device reliability of silicon-based microstructures are introduced. The effective parameters on the strength and the mechanism of fatigue failure are discussed with examples of measurement data to show the design guidelines for highly reliable silicon microstructures and devices.

Electrical Conductivity and Magnetoresistance of Silicon Microstructures in the Vicinity to Metal-Insulator Transition

Complex research of silicon microcrystals with specific resistance from ρ300K = 0.025 Ohm × cm to ρ300K =0.007 Ohm × cm doped with boron transport impurity to concentrations corresponding to the transition of metaldielectric and modified transition metal nickel at low temperatures to the temperature of liquefied heliumT = 4.2 K in magnetic fields up to 14 Tl. The features of electrophysical characteristics of samples at lowtemperatures in strong magnetic fields up to 14 Tl are determined due to the influence of a magnetic impurity insemiconductor-diluted magnetism and the use of such crystals in sensors of physical quantities (temperature,magnetic field, deformation) is proposed.