Improvements to Micro-Contact Performance and Reliability

Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) based devices, and specifically microswitches, continue to offer many advantages over competing technologies. To realize the benefits of micro-switches, improvements must be made to address performance and reliability shortfalls which have long been an issue with this application. To improve the performance of these devices, the micro-contacts used in this technology must be understood to allow for design improvements, and offer a means for testing to validate this technology and determine when such improvements are ready for operational environments. To build devices which are more robust and capable of continued operation after billions of cycles requires that improved fabrication techniques be identified and perfected to allow for more sophisticated designs to be tested

Chemical Vapor Deposition of Heteroepitaxial Boron Phosphide Thin Films

Boron monophosphide (BP) is a group III-V compound semiconductor with a wide band gap of 2.3 eV. Its unique electrical properties make it a promising material for use as a room temperature thermal neutron detector and thermoelectric device in high temperature and radiation fields. A thin film of BP enriched in the boron-10 isotope can yield 2.8MeV of energy, which in solid-state BP can yield ∼0.5 million electron-hole pairs that would be detectable with minimal amplification in a device. The high carrier concentration, wide band gap, inertness and refractory nature make it an attractive material for use in the extreme environments of nuclear reactors. The main drawback to BP is the difficulty in synthesizing high quality thin films. The majority of the previous work on BP was performed on Si substrates. The high lattice mismatch between Si and BP incorporates strain in the BP film which causes varying defects and charge traps to be introduced, adversely affecting electrical performance. It is the purpose of this work to identify the parameters necessary to deposit highly ordered zincblende boron phosphide (BP) thin films on 4° off-axis C-face 4H-SiC(0001) substrates by chemical vapor deposition. SiC only has a 4% lattice mismatch from BP, which could greatly reduce the inherent strain from heteroepitaxial growth. Ultra high purity diborane and phosphineare used as reactive precursors, with hydrogen as the carrier gas. Conditions necessary for high quality BP thin films will be explored. SEM, XRD, TEM and Raman spectroscopy are used to characterize the BP films and identify the temperature, phosphine to diborane flow rate ratios, SiC wafer termination and wafer surface preparation to elucidate optimum BP thin films for eventual device fabrication

Microgripper force feedback integration using piezoresistive cantilever structure

Force feedback is an important feature in most microgripper applications, but it is commonly overlooked. To successfully implement this feature, a cantilever structure has been designed and fabricated to integrate force feedback into a microhand gripper. The piezoresistive properties of doped polysilicon are used to transduce the mechanical stress of an object pressing against the cantilever sensor, resulting in a change in resistance or voltage capable of being monitored with external hardware. The force sensing structure was designed to have a fabrication process compatible with that of the microhand, allowing for their eventual integration. This fabrication process uses both bulk and surface micromachining techniques to create the cantilever structure, a balloon actuator (utilized in the microhand), and the interconnect to interact with both the electrical sensors and the pneumatic actuators. The prototype fabrication successfully defined the majority of the MEMS device with the exception of the final step. The release of the cantilever failed due to underetching of the entire device rather than just the cantilever, which was desired. Recommendations to solve this problem and improve the fabrication process are presented

ELECTRON BEAM INDUCED DEPOSITION OF HIGHLY CONDUCTIVE COPPER NANOWIRES FROM BULK LIQUIDS

Electron-beam induced deposition (EBID) is a position-controlled technique that can directly fabricate nanometer-sized structures in functional materials. In the standard process, a gaseous precursor delivers the desired substance to the substrate for deposition. However, the material purity from these precursors is typically poor, which often negatively affects the functional properties of the deposit. Recently, bulk liquid precursors have been investigated as promising reactants for high purity deposition without the need for post-processing. In this work, EBID from bulk liquids is shown to yield highly conductive nanowire deposits. Aqueous solutions containing copper sulfate (CuSO4) and sulfuric acid (H2SO4) are used as precursors to deposit copper nanowires on oxidized silicon substrates in an environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM). Using four point I-V measurement, our results show a copper resistivity as low as 67 μΩ⦁cm, which is 6-8 orders of magnitude lower than that of as-deposited copper from gas phase reactants, 4-5 orders of magnitude lower than that of annealed materials, and within 1 order of magnitude of bulk copper. The low resistivity of these deposits without post-processing highlights the importance of further research to overcome challenges associated with deposition via liquid precursors, such as collateral deposition; local delivery of the reactant; and control of liquid thickness

Microfluidic Mechanics and Applications: a Review

Microfluidics involves the transportation, splitting and mixing of minute fluids to perform several chemical and biological reactions including drug screening, heating, cooling or dissolution of reagents. Efforts have been made to develop different microfluidic devices, droplets and valves that can stop and resume flow of liquids inside a microchannel. This paper provides the review related to the theory and mechanics of microfluidic devices and fluid flow. Different materials and techniques for fabricating microfluidic devices are discussed. Subsequently, the microfluidic components that are responsible for successful micrfluidic device formation are presented. Finally, recent applications related to the microfluidics are highlighted. When you are citing the document, use the following link http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/3553

Electron-beam induced damage in thin insulating films on compound semiconductors

Phosphorus rich plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) of silicon nitride and silicon dioxide films on n-type indium phosphide (InP) substrates were exposed to electron-beam irradiation in the 5 to 40 keV range for the purpose of characterizing the damage induced in the dielectric. The electron-beam exposure was on the range of 10(exp -7) to 10(exp -3) C/sq cm. The damage to the devices was characterized by capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurements of the metal insulator semiconductor (MIS) capacitors. These results were compared to results obtained for radiation damage of thermal silicon dioxide on silicon (Si) MOS capacitors with similar exposures. The radiation induced damage in the PECVD silicon nitride films on InP was successfully annealed out in an hydrogen/nitrogen (H2/N2) ambient at 400 C for 15 min. The PECVD silicon dioxide films on InP had the least radiation damage, while the thermal silicon dioxide films on Si had the most radiation damage

Phase 1 of the automated array assembly task of the low cost silicon solar array project

The state of technology readiness for the automated production of solar cells and modules is reviewed. Individual process steps and process sequences for making solar cells and modules were evaluated both technically and economically. High efficiency with a suggested cell goal of 15% was stressed. It is concluded that the technology exists to manufacture solar cells which will meet program goals

Photolithography based patterning of bacteriorhodopsin films

The patterning of photoactive purple membrane (PM) films onto electronic substrates to create a biologically based light detection device was investigated. This research is part of a larger collaborative effort to develop a miniaturized toxin detection platform. This platform will utilize PM films containing the photoactive protein bacteriorhodopsin to convert light energy to electrical energy. Following an effort to pattern PM films using focused ion beam machining, the photolithography based bacteriorhodopsin patterning technique (PBBPT) was developed. This technique utilizes conventional photolithography techniques to pattern oriented PM films onto flat substrates. After the basic patterning process was developed, studies were conducted that confirmed the photoelectric functionality of the PM films after patterning. Several process variables were studied and optimized in order to increase the pattern quality of the PM films. Optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and interferometric microscopy were used to evaluate the PM films produced by the patterning technique. Patterned PM films with lateral dimensions of 15 μm have been demonstrated using this technique. Unlike other patterning techniques, the PBBPT uses standard photolithographic processes that make its integration with conventional semiconductor fabrication feasible. The final effort of this research involved integrating PM films patterned using the PBBPT with PMOS transistors. An indirect integration of PM films with PMOS transistors was successfully demonstrated. This indirect integration used the voltage produced by a patterned PM film under light exposure to modulate the gate of a PMOS transistor, activating the transistor. Following this success, a study investigating how this PM based light detection system responded to variations in light intensity supplied to the PM film. This work provides a successful proof of concept for a portion of the toxin detection platform currently under development