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Introduction to
Microeletromechanical Systems
(MEMS)
Edward S. Kolesar, Ph.D., P.E.
W.A. Moncrief Professor of Engineering
Texas Christian University
Department of Engineering
Frank L. Lewis, Ph.D., P.E.
Moncrief-ODonnell Endowed Chair
The University of Texas at Arlington
Department of Electrical Engineering
Automation and Robotics Institute (ARRI)
Texas Christian University Department of Engineering Ed Kolesar
Acknowledgements
The instructors acknowledge the support and course
materials made available by the following individuals
and organizations, either personally, or via their WEB
sites
Professor Karl Bohringer, The University of Washington
Professor Gregory Kovacs, Stanford University
Professor Kris Pister, University of California at Berkeley
Professor Martin Schmidt, MIT
Professor Ken Wise, University of Michigan
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Texas Christian University Department of Engineering Ed Kolesar
Course Administrative Topics
Syllabus
Schedule
Homework
Project
Handouts
Homework Set #1
Crystal Silicon Origami
Richard Feynman article
Kurt Petersen article
Texas Christian University Department of Engineering Ed Kolesar
Course Overview
Introduction to Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS)
History, scale, materials, surface and bulk micromachining,
Fabrication Techniques for MEMS
Lithography, deposition, etching, surface and bulk micromachining
Micro Hinges, SCREAM, HexSil, LIGA, ...
Foundries: MCNC MUMPS, MOSIS CMOS,
Transducers
Mechanical, optical, thermal, electrostatic, ...
Modeling and Simulation
Special Topics
Current MEMS research
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Texas Christian University Department of Engineering Ed Kolesar
Background
Introduction
Commercial Prospects for MEMS
Properties and Manufacture of Silicon
Material properties, wafer identification,
Handouts
Silicon origami
Reference Paper: Richard Feynman, Theres
Plenty of Room at the Bottom
Texas Christian University Department of Engineering Ed Kolesar
Scales and Dimensions
1nm 1m 1mm 1m 1
MEMS
wafer
integrated
circuit
-beams, membranes
thin films
optical lithography
limit
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nanotechnology
chemistry
molecular biology
precision machining
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Texas Christian University Department of Engineering Ed Kolesar
Microelectromechnical Systems
(MEMS)
Scale: from below 1 m to above 1 mm
Manufacture: batch fabrication technology
Function: micro -mechanics, -electronics,
-fluidics, -optics,
Texas Christian University Department of Engineering Ed Kolesar
Microelectromechnical Systems (MEMS)
Use existing silicon
processing infrastructure
to create micron-scale
machines.
Can have many
functions, including
sensing, actuation, and
communication.
Just like
microelectronics, MEMS
will permeate our
everyday lives in the
coming decades. Micro cilia array
[Suh et al.,
S&A-A 1996.]
Heart cell sensor
[G. Lin et al.,
S&A-A 1995]
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Texas Christian University Department of Engineering Ed Kolesar
Transducer System
Transducer: convert
energy from one form to
another
Definition includes
sensors and actuators
MEMS permits
integration of sensors,
actuators, computation,
and communication into
one batch-fabricated
device
sensors actuators
computation
communication
user
Texas Christian University Department of Engineering Ed Kolesar
Moores Law
Number of transistors per
unit surface area doubles
every 2 years
Price drops by 30% each
year
Consequence:
Memory free
Computation free
Communication free
Sensing/actuation free
Time
Number of Transitors
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Texas Christian University Department of Engineering Ed Kolesar
History of MEMS
1939 PN-junction semiconductor (W. Schottky)
1948 Transistor (J. Bardeen, W.H. Brattain, W. Shockley)
1954 Piezoresistive effect in semiconductors (C.S. Smith)
1958 First integrated circuit (IC) (J.S. Kilby)
1959 Theres Plenty of Room at the Bottom (R. Feynman)
1962 Silicon integrated piezo actuators (O.N. Tufte, P.W.
Chapman and D. Long)
1965 Surface micromachined FET accelerometer (H.C.
Nathanson, R.A. Wickstrom)
1967 Anisotropic deep silicon etching (H.A. Waggener et al.)
1977 Silicon electrostatic accelerometer (Stanford)
1979 Integrated gas chromatograph (S.C. Terry, J.H. Jerman
and J.B. Angell)
Texas Christian University Department of Engineering Ed Kolesar
History of MEMS
1982 Silicon as a Mechanical Material (K. Petersen)
1983 Integrated pressure sensor (Honeywell)
1985 LIGA (W. Ehrfeld et al.)
1986 Silicon wafer bonding (M. Shimbo)
1988 Batch fabricated pressure sensors via wafer bonding (Nova
Sensor)
1992 Bulk micromachining (SCREAM process, Cornell)
1993 Digital mirror display (Texas Instruments)
1994 Commercial surface micromachined accelerometer (Analog
Devices)
1999 Optical network switch (Lucent)
[Gerlach, Dtzel 1997]
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Texas Christian University Department of Engineering Ed Kolesar
MEMS Market
Market Analysis [J. Bryzek, 1998]
Applications include pressure sensors, inertial
sensors, fluidics, data storage, displays, biochips,
communication
Total MEMS market
1995: $1.4B (non-sensor $30M)
2005: $6.7B (non-sensor $3.4B)
Other authors: $13B by 2000
Compare with IC market ($150B)
Enabling Technology
Texas Christian University Department of Engineering Ed Kolesar
MEMS Market
Market Analysis [Nexus 2000]
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Texas Christian University Department of Engineering Ed Kolesar
MEMS Market
Roger Grace Associates
Application Sector 2000 2004 CAGR(%)
IT/Peripheral 8,700 13,400 11.5
Medical/Biochemical 2,400 7,400 32.5
Industrial/Automation 1,190 1,850 11.6
Telecommunications 130 3,650 128.1
Automotive 1,260 2,350 16.9
Environmental Monitoring 520 1,750 35.4
Total 14,200 30,400 21.0
(in Millions of US $)
Texas Christian University Department of Engineering Ed Kolesar
Successful MEMS Products
Automotive industry: manifold air pressure sensor,
air bag sensor (accelerometer with self-test)
TI digital mirror display (DMD)
video projection system
(development cost ~ $1B)
Inkjet nozzles (HP, Canon, Lexmark)
up to 1600 x 1600 resolution
(~ 30M units per year)
[J. Bryzek, 1998]
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Texas Christian University Department of Engineering Ed Kolesar
How do we do MEMS?
Fabrication: clean room
Device/system design:
mechanics, electronics,
electrostatics, fluidics
Process design: chemistry
and physics of fabrication
Testing: scope, probe
station, SEM, ...
System analysis:
modeling, simulation
Texas Christian University Department of Engineering Ed Kolesar
MEMS Design Methodology
Currently driven by fabrication limitations
and processing constraints
Various specialized CAD tools emerging
Comparison with IC Industry:
No single standard MEMS process
No higher-level functional design tools yet
(except for very limited applications)
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Texas Christian University Department of Engineering Ed Kolesar
Some Tools
Device design:
Cadence, LEdit, Spice, MATLAB,
Process design:
TSuprem (fabrication cross-
section)
IntelliSuite, AnisE (bulk silicon
etching)
Analysis:
FEM systems, analytic tools,
MEMCAD, IntelliSuite, ANSYS
Texas Christian University Department of Engineering Ed Kolesar
Why Use Silicon?
Take advantage of extensive experience from IC
production
Readily available in very pure form (nine nines)
Material properties are very well known
Can integrate electronics
Exceptional properties:
Very strong
Yield strength 7 10
9
N/m
2
vs. steel 4.2 10
9
N/m
2
Relatively light
Density 2.3 g/cm
3
vs. steel 7.9 g/cm
3
Semiconductor
Resistivity 0.5 m-cm (doped) to 230 k-cm (intrinsic)
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Texas Christian University Department of Engineering Ed Kolesar
Silicon Production
Sand to MGS (Metallurgical Grade Silicon)
Purity 98%
SiC + SiO
2
+ heat Si + SiO + CO
MGS to EGS (Electronic Grade Silicon - Polycrystalline)
Impurity ~ 2 ppb
Si + 3HCl SiHCl
3
+ H
2
+ heat
2SiHCl
3
+ 2H
2
2Si + 6HCl
EGS to SCS (Single Crystal Silicon)
Czochralski crystal growing
Solidification of atoms from liquid phase at crystal interface
Source: S. M. Sze, VLSI
Technology 2nd ed.
Source: S. M. Sze, VLSI
Technology 2nd ed.
Texas Christian University Department of Engineering Ed Kolesar
Silicon Crystallography
Lattice: periodic arrangement of atoms in a crystal
Unit Cell: smallest volume segment representative of entire lattice
Basis Vectors: unit cells can be translated in the lattice by
integral multiples of basis vectors, a
1
, a
2
, a
3
Silicon Lattice = Diamond Lattice: atoms with four covalent
bonds, cubic lattice
Figure from M. Madou, Fundamentals of
Microfabrication, CRC Press, 1997.
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Texas Christian University Department of Engineering Ed Kolesar
Wafer Identification
Orientation:
Miller index
{100}, {111},
Intercept plane with
crystallographic axes
Form reciprocal of the
three intercepts
Divide three numbers by
the gcd
Figure from D. M. Sherman, University of Bristol, UK.
Texas Christian University Department of Engineering Ed Kolesar
Wafer Identification
Doping
n-type (e.g., Sb, As,
P, Bi) electron donors
(5 electrons in outer
shell)
p-type (e.g., B, Ga,
In) acceptors (3
electrons in outer
shell)
Note primary and secondary flats.
{111} n-type
{100} p-type {111} p-type
{100} n-type
variations
primary flat (110 plane)
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Texas Christian University Department of Engineering Ed Kolesar
Wafer Processing
There are only 3 basic operations* for
building microstructures:
Pattern Definition
Deposition
Removal
*There are always exceptions
Texas Christian University Department of Engineering Ed Kolesar
Wafer Processing
Deposition: thin films
(e.g., photoresist, Au,
Al, poly, SiO
2
, Si
3
N
4
, )
Pattern definition:
masking, lithography,
Removal: etching (e.g.,
wet, dry, an/isotropic, )
wafer
Chips
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Texas Christian University Department of Engineering Ed Kolesar
Micromachining Materials
Substrates:
Silicon
GaAs
Other elemental or compound semiconductors
Metals (bulk and foils)
Glasses
Quartz
Sapphire
Ceramics
Plastics, polymers and other organics
Texas Christian University Department of Engineering Ed Kolesar
Micromachining Materials
Additive Materials:
Silicon (amorphous, polycrystalline, epitaxial)
Silicon compounds (oxides, nitrides, carbides, )
Metals and metal compounds
Glass
Ceramics
Polymers and other organics
Biomaterials