Strategies and techniques for fabricating MEMS bistable thermal actuators.

Bistable elements are beginning to appear in the field of MEMS as they allow engineers to design sensors and actuators which require no electrical power and possess mechanical memory. This research focuses on the development of novel strategies and techniques for fabricating MEMS bistable structures to serve as no electrical power thermal actuators. Two parallel strategies were explored for the design and fabrication of the critical bistable element. Both strategies involved an extensive material study on candidate thin film materials to determine their temperature coefficient of expansion and as-deposited internal stress properties. Materials investigated included titanium tungsten, Invar, silicon nitride and amorphous silicon deposited using either sputtering or PECVD. Deposition parameters were experimentally determined to produce tensile, compressive and stress-free films. A full set of graphs are presented. To address the 3D MEMS topology challenge required for bistability, this research explored two different strategies for fabricating 3D non-planar hemispherical dome structures using minimal processing steps. The first approach used the thermal/chemical reflow of resist, along with traditional binary lithography with a single photomask. Specific thermal/chemical reflow conditions were experimentally developed to produce hemispherical dome over a wide range. The second approach introduced a novel maskless procedure for fabricating the dome using grayscale lithography. After evaluating the above results, it was decided to use engineered compressive stress in released thin film sandwiches to form the 3D dome structures required for bistable actuation. Three different types of released multi-layer diaphragms were studied: 1) oxide-polyimide diaphragms, 2) oxide-aluminum diaphragms, and 3) oxide-aluminum-polyimide diaphragms

Nematic Liquid Crystal Carbon Nanotube Composite Materials for Designing RF Switching Devices

Radio frequency microelectromechanical systems (RF MEMS) devices are microdevices used to switch or modify signals from the RF to millimeter wave (mmWave) frequency range. Liquid crystals (LCs) are widely used as electro-optic modulators for display devices. An electric field-induced electrical conductivity modulation of pure LC media is quite low which makes it difficult to use for RF MEMS switching applications. Currently, RF MEMS devices are characterized as an excellent option between solid-state and electromechanical RF switches to provide high isolation, low insertion loss, low power usage, excellent return loss, and large frequency band. However, commercial usage is low due to their lower switching speed, reliability, and repeatability. This research presents an electrical conductivity enhancement through the use of carbon nanotube (CNT) doping of LCs to realize a high-performance RF LC-CNT switching device. This thesis presents simulations of an RF switch using a coplanar waveguide (CPW) with a LC-CNT composite called 4-Cyano-4’-pentylbiphenyl multi-walled nanotube (5CB-MWNT) that is suitable for RF applications. The electrical conductivity modulation and RF switch performance of the 5CB-MWNT composite is determined using Finite Element Analysis (FEA). The simulations will present data on the coplanar waveguide’s s-parameters at the input and output ports S11 and S21 to measure return and insertion loss respectively, two key parameters for determining any RF switch’s performance. Furthermore, this thesis presents applications for improving tunable phased antenna arrays using the LC-CNT composite to allow for beam steering with high-gain and directivity to provide a broad 3D scannable coverage of an area. Tunable antennas are an important characteristic for 5G applications to achieve an optimal telecommunication system to prevent overcrowding of antennas and reduce overall system costs. This research investigates various device geometries with 5CB-MWNT to realize the best performing RF device for RF applications and 5G telecommunication systems. This research presents return and insertion loss data for three waveguide device configurations: CPW, coplanar waveguide grounded (CPWG), and finite ground coplanar waveguide grounded (FG-CPWG). The best results are shown using the CPW configuration. The return loss for the LC-CNT device showed a 5 dB improvement from -7.5 dB to -12.5 dB when using the LC-CNT signal line device. The insertion loss for this configuration showed a much more consistent 0 to -0.3 dB insertion loss value with much less noise when using the LC-CNT device compared to the -0.3 to -1 dB insertion loss value with heavy noise when using the Au signal line device. For the other two configurations the return loss and insertion loss value stayed the same indicating there is no loss in performance when using the LC-CNT switching mechanism. This is ideal due to the benefits that the LC-CNT switching mechanism provides like device reliability and increased switching speeds

High-Power Microwave/ Radio-Frequency Components, Circuits, and Subsystems for Next-Generation Wireless Radio Front-Ends

As the wireless communication systems evolve toward the future generation, intelligence will be the main signature/trend, well known as the concepts of cognitive and software-defined radios which offer ultimate data transmission speed, spectrum access, and user capacity. During this evolution, the human society may experience another round of `information revolution\u27. However, one of the major bottlenecks of this promotion lies in hardware realization, since all the aforementioned intelligent systems are required to cover a broad frequency range to support multiple communication bands and dissimilar standards. As the essential part of the hardware, power amplifiers (PAs) capable of operating over a wide bandwidth have been identified as the key enabling technology. This dissertation focuses on novel methodologies for designing and realizing broadband high-power PAs, their integration with high-quality-factor (high-Q) tunable filters, and relevant investigations on the reliabilities of these tunable devices. It can be basically divided into three major parts: 1.Broadband High-Efficiency Power Amplifiers. Obtaining high PA efficiency over a wide bandwidth is very challenging, because of the difficulty of performing broadband multi-harmonic matching. However, high efficiency is the critical feature for high-performance PAs due to the ever-increasing demands for environmental friendliness, energy saving, and longer battery life. In this research, novel design methodologies of broad-band highly efficient PAs are proposed, including the first-ever mode-transferring PA theory, novel matching network topology, and wideband reconfigurable PA architecture. These techniques significantly advance the state-of-the-art in terms of bandwidth and efficiency. 2.Co-Design of PAs and High-Q Tunable Filters. When implementing the intelligent communication systems, the conventional approach based on independent RF design philosophy suffers from many inherent defects, since no global optimization is achieved leading to degraded overall performance. An attractive method to solve these difficulties is to co-design critical modules of the transceiver chain. This dissertation presents the first-ever co-design of PAs and tunable filters, in which the redundant inter-module matching is entirely eliminated, leading to minimized size & cost and maximized overall performance. The saved hardware resources can be further transferred to enhance system functionalities. Moreover, we also demonstrate that co-design of PAs and filters can lead to more functionalities/benefits for the wireless systems, e.g. efficient and linear amplification of dual-carrier (or multi-carrier) signals. 3.High-Power/Non-Linear Study on Tunable Devices. High-power limitation/power handling is an everlasting theme of tunable devices, as it determines the operational life and is the threshold for actual industrial applications. Under high-power operation, the high RF voltage can lead to failures like tuners\u27 mechanical deflections and gas discharge in the small air spacing of the cavity. These two mechanisms are studied independently with their instantaneous and long-term effects on the device performance. In addition, an anti-biased topology of electrostatic RF MEMS varactors and tunable filters is proposed and experimentally validated for reducing the non-linear effect induced by bias-noise. These investigations will enlighten the designers on how to avoid and/or minimize the non-ideal effects, eventually leading to longer life cycle and performance sustainability of the tunable devices

Reconfigurable Antennas Using Liquid Crystalline Elastomers

This dissertation demonstrates the design of reversibly self-morphing novel liquid crystalline elastomer (LCE) antennas that can dynamically change electromagnetic performance in response to temperature. This change in performance can be achieved by programming the shape change of stimuli-responsive (i.e., temperature-responsive) LCEs, and using these materials as substrates for reconfigurable antennas. Existing reconfigurable antennas rely on external circuitry such as Micro-Electro-Mechanical-Systems (MEMS) switches, pin diodes, and shape memory alloys (SMAs) to reconfigure their performance. Antennas using MEMS or diodes exhibit low efficiency due to the losses from these components. Also, antennas based on SMAs can change their performance only once as SMAs response to the stimuli and is not reversible. Flexible electronics are capable of morphing from one shape to another using various techniques, such as liquid metals, hydrogels, and shape memory polymers. LCE antennas can reconfigure their electromagnetic performance, (e.g., frequency of operation, polarization, and radiation pattern) and enable passive (i.e., battery-less) temperature sensing and monitoring applications, such as passive radio frequency identification device (RFID) sensing tags. Limited previous work has been performed on shape-changing antenna structures based on LCEs. To date, self-morphing flexible electronics, including antennas, which rely on stimuli-responsive LCEs that reversibly change shape in response to temperature changes, have not been previously explored. Here, LCE antennas will be studied and developed. Also, the metallization of LCEs with different metal conductors and their fabrication process, by either electron beam (E-Beam) evaporation or optical gluing of the metal film will be observed. The LCE material can have a significant impact on sensing applications due to its reversible actuation that can enable a sensor to work repeatedly. This interdisciplinary research (material polymer science and electrical engineering) is expected to contribute to the development of morphing electronics, including sensors, passive antennas, arrays, and frequency selective surfaces (FSS)

Advanced MEMS Microprobes for Neural Stimulation and Recording

The in-vivo observation of the neural activities generated by a large number of closely located neurons is believed to be crucial for understanding the nervous system. Moreover, the functional electrical stimulation of the central nervous system is an effective method to restore physiological functions such as limb control, sound sensation, and light perception. The Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) is being successfully used in the treatment of tremor and rigidity associated with advanced Parkinson's disease. Cochlear implants have also been employed as an effective treatment for sensorineural deafness by means of delivering the electrical stimulation directly to the auditory nerve. The most significant contribution of this PhD study is the development of next-generation microprobes for the simultaneous stimulation and recording of the cortex and deep brain structures. For intracortical applications, millimetre length multisite microprobes that are rigid enough to penetrate into the cortex while integrated with flexible interconnection cables are demanded. In chronic applications, the flexibility of the cable minimizes the tissue damage caused by the relative micro-motion between the brain and the microprobe. Although hybrid approaches have been reported to construct such neural microprobes, these devices are brittle and may impose severe complications if they break inside the tissue. In this project, MEMS fabrication processes were employed to produce non-breakable intracortical microprobes with an improved structural design. These 32 channel devices are integrated with flexible interconnection cables and provide enough mechanical strength for penetration into the tissue. Polyimide-based flexible implants were successfully fabricated and locally reinforced at the tip with embedded 15 µm-thick gold micro-needles. In DBS applications, centimetre long microprobes capable of stimulating and recording the neural activity are required. The currently available DBS probes, manufactured by Medtronic, provide only four cylindrical shaped electrode sites, each 1.5 mm in height and 1.27 mm in diameter. Although suitable for the stimulation of a large brain volume, to measure the activity of a single neuron but to avoid measuring the average response of adjacent cells, recording sites with dimensions in the range of 10 - 20 µm are required. In this work, novel Three Dimensional (3D) multi channel microprobes were fabricated offering 32 independent stimulation and recording electrodes around the shaft of the implant. These microprobes can control the spatial distribution of the charge injected into the tissue to enhance the efficacy and minimize the adverse effects of the DBS treatment. Furthermore, the device volume has been reduced to one third the volume of a conventional Medtronic DBS lead to significantly decrease the tissue damage induced by implantation of the microprobe. For both DBS and intracortical microprobes, the impedance characteristics of the electrodes were studied in acidic and saline solutions. To reduce the channel impedance and enhance the signal to noise ratio, iridium (Ir) was electroplated on gold electrode sites. Stable electrical characteristics were demonstrated for the Ir and gold electrodes over the course of a prolonged pulse stress test for 100 million cycles. The functionality and application potential of the fabricated microprobes were confirmed by the in-vitro measurements of the neural activity in the mouse hippocampus. In order to reduce the number of channels and simplify the signal processing circuitry, multiport electrostatic-actuated switch matrices were successfully developed, fabricated, and characterized for possible integration with neural microprobes to construct a site selection matrix. Magnetic-actuated switches have been also investigated to improve the operation reliability of the MEMS switching devices

A Review on Key Issues and Challenges in Devices Level MEMS Testing

The present review provides information relevant to issues and challenges in MEMS testing techniques that are implemented to analyze the microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) behavior for specific application and operating conditions. MEMS devices are more complex and extremely diverse due to the immersion of multidomains. Their failure modes are distinctive under different circumstances. Therefore, testing of these systems at device level as well as at mass production level, that is, parallel testing, is becoming very challenging as compared to the IC test, because MEMS respond to electrical, physical, chemical, and optical stimuli. Currently, test systems developed for MEMS devices have to be customized due to their nondeterministic behavior and complexity. The accurate measurement of test systems for MEMS is difficult to quantify in the production phase. The complexity of the device to be tested required maturity in the test technique which increases the cost of test development; this practice is directly imposed on the device cost. This factor causes a delay in time-to-market