Silicon Wet Bulk Micromachining for MEMS

Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)-based sensors and actuators have become remarkably popular in the past few decades. Rapid advances have taken place in terms of both technologies and techniques of fabrication of MEMS structures. Wet chemical–based silicon bulk micromachining continues to be a widely used technique for the fabrication of microstructures used in MEMS devices. Researchers all over the world have contributed significantly to the advancement of wet chemical–based micromachining, from understanding the etching mechanism to exploring its application to the fabrication of simple to complex MEMS structures. In addition to its various benefits, one of the unique features of wet chemical–based bulk micromachining is the ability to fabricate slanted sidewalls, such as 45° walls as micromirrors, as well as freestanding structures, such as cantilevers and diaphragms. This makes wet bulk micromachining necessary for the fabrication of structures for myriad applications. This book provides a comprehensive understating of wet bulk micromachining for the fabrication of simple to advanced microstructures for various applications in MEMS. It includes introductory to advanced concepts and covers research on basic and advanced topics on wet chemical–based silicon bulk micromachining. The book thus serves as an introductory textbook for undergraduate- and graduate-level students of physics, chemistry, electrical and electronic engineering, materials science, and engineering, as well as a comprehensive reference for researchers working or aspiring to work in the area of MEMS and for engineers working in microfabrication technology

Micro systems technology

The emerging field of Micro Systems Technology is described. Micro Systems Technology can be seen as the meeting of disciplines, a product of convergence along different lines. Apart from the traditional and ever developing line of 'classical' precision engineering, there is a line along micro electronics, micro sensors and actuators. This is the line we focus on in this contribution. The third line worth mentioning is the one along the upcoming field of molecular engineering. The main purpose of this paper is to show the wealth of possibilities and consequently the need for 'integral design' management

Integrating a micro fuel cell on Si

AbstractA research group of the Institute for Microelectronics and Microsystems (IMM) of the National Council of Research (CNR) in Catania, Italy is working to integrate fuel cells and conventional electronic devices on the same silicon chip. By using innovative micromachining processes, based on advanced and smart material engineering, they succeeded in fabricating electrocatalytic porous membranes, with a wide and tunable surface, positioned above a micro-channel system. These processes only consist of surface micromachining, fully compatible with the standard ULSI silicon technology.This is a short news story only. Visit www.three-fives.com for the latest advanced semiconductor industry news

Micromachining of buried micro channels in silicon

A new method for the fabrication of micro structures for fluidic applications, such as channels, cavities, and connector holes in the bulk of silicon wafers, called buried channel technology (BCT), is presented in this paper. The micro structures are constructed by trench etching, coating of the sidewalls of the trench, removal of the coating at the bottom of the trench, and etching into the bulk of the silicon substrate. The structures can be sealed by deposition of a suitable layer that closes the trench. BCT is a process that can be used to fabricate complete micro channels in a single wafer with only one lithographic mask and processing on one side of the wafer, without the need for assembly and bonding. The process leaves a substrate surface with little topography, which easily allows further processing, such as the integration of electronic circuits or solid-state sensors. The essential features of the technology, as well as design rules and feasible process schemes, will be demonstrated on examples from the field of ¿-fluidic

Artificial dielectric devices for variable polarization compensation at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths

Variable polarization compensation has been demonstrated at 100 GHz. The device consists of two interlocking V-groove artificial dielectric gratings that produce a birefringence that varies with the separation distance. A maximum retardance of 74/spl deg/ has been obtained experimentally in a silicon device, in good agreement with rigorous coupled-wave computer simulations. Further simulations predict that adding quarter wave dielectric antireflection (AR) coatings to the outer surfaces of the device can reduce the insertion loss to below 4 dB. The use of rectangular grooved gratings provides increased retardance and reduced loss. It is predicted that a coupled device with rectangular grooved gratings will be capable of maximum retardance in excess of 180/spl deg/, with low insertion loss (<0.6 dB). The sensitivity of the wave retardation as a function of mechanical separation has a peak value of 485/spl deg//mm. The design and micromachining fabrication techniques scale for operation at submillimeter wavelengths

Wafer scale nano-membranes supported on a silicon microsieve

A new micromachining method to fabricate wafer scale, atomically smooth nano-membranes is described. The delicate membrane is supported on a robust silicon microsieve fabricated by plasma etching. The supporting sieve is micromachined independently of the nano-membrane, which is later fusion bonded to it. The transferred thin-film membrane can be dense, porous or perforated according to the application desired. One of the main application areas for such membranes is in fluidics, where the small thickness and high strength of the supported nano-membranes is a big advantage. The novel method described enables to easily up-scale and interface micro or nano-membranes to the macro-worl

Integrated Lithographic Molding for Microneedle-Based Devices

This paper presents a new fabrication method consisting of lithographically defining multiple layers of high aspect-ratio photoresist onto preprocessed silicon substrates and release of the polymer by the lost mold or sacrificial layer technique, coined by us as lithographic molding. The process methodology was demonstrated fabricating out-of-plane polymeric hollow microneedles. First, the fabrication of needle tips was demonstrated for polymeric microneedles with an outer diameter of 250 mum, through-hole capillaries of 75-mum diameter and a needle shaft length of 430 mum by lithographic processing of SU-8 onto simple v-grooves. Second, the technique was extended to gain more freedom in tip shape design, needle shaft length and use of filling materials. A novel combination of silicon dry and wet etching is introduced that allows highly accurate and repetitive lithographic molding of a complex shape. Both techniques consent to the lithographic integration of microfluidic back plates forming a patch-type device. These microneedle-integrated patches offer a feasible solution for medical applications that demand an easy to use point-of-care sample collector, for example, in blood diagnostics for lithium therapy. Although microchip capillary electrophoresis glass devices were addressed earlier, here, we show for the first time the complete diagnostic method based on microneedles made from SU-8

Design, fabrication, and testing of silicon microgimbals for super-compact rigid disk drives

This paper documents results related to design optimization, fabrication process refinement, and micron-level static/dynamic testing of silicon micromachined microgimbals that have applications in super-compact computer disk drives as well as many other engineering applications of microstructures and microactuators requiring significant out-of-plane motions. The objective of the optimization effort is to increase the in-plane to out-of-plane stiffness ratio in order to maximize compliance and servo bandwidth and to increase the displacement to strain ratio to maximize the shock resistance of the microgimbals, while that of the process modification effort is to simplify in order to reduce manufacturing cost. The testing effort is to characterize both the static and dynamic performance using precision instrumentation in order to compare various prototype designs

Lithium niobate micromachining for the fabrication of microfluidic droplet generators

In this paper, we present the first microfluidic junctions for droplet generation directly engraved on lithium niobate crystals by micromachining techniques, preparatory to a fully integrated opto-microfluidics lab-on-chip system. In particular, laser ablation technique and the mechanical micromachining technique are exploited to realise microfluidic channels in T-and cross junction configurations. The quality of both lateral and bottom surfaces of the channels are therefore compared together with a detailed study of their roughness measured by means of atomic force microscopy in order to evaluate the final performance achievable in an optofluidic device. Finally, the microfluidics performances of these water-in-oil droplets generators are investigated depending on these micromachining techniques, with particular focus on a wide range of droplet generation rates

Micromachined Millimetre-Wave Passive Components at 38 and 77 GHz

A precision micro-fabrication technique has been developed for millimetre-wave components of air-filled three-dimensional structures, such as rectangular coaxial lines or waveguides. The devices are formed by bonding several layers of micromachining defined slices with a thickness of a few hundred micrometres. The slices are thickphotoresist SU8 defined by photolithography, or silicon with a pattern defined by deep reactive ion etching; both are coated with gold by evaporation. The process is simple, and low-cost, as compared with conventional precision metal machining, but yields mm-wave components with good performance. The components are light weight and truly airfilled with no dielectric support. This paper reviews several of these micromachined mm-wave components at 38 and 77 GHz for communications and radar applications