Patricia M. Nieva

Thermal expansion coefficient of polycrystalline silicon and silicon dioxide thin films at high temperatures

The rapid growth of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) industry has introduced a need for the characterization of thin film properties at all temperatures encountered during fabrication and application of the devices. A technique was developed to use MEMS test structures for the determination of the difference in thermal expansion coefficients (α) between poly-Si and SiO2 thin films at high temperatures. The test structure consists of multilayered cantilever beams, fabricated using standard photolithography techniques. An apparatus was developed to measure the thermally induced curvature of beams at high temperatures using imaging techniques. The curvatures measured were compared to the numerical model for multilayered beam curvature. The model accounts for the variation in thermomechanical properties with temperature. The beams were designed so that the values of Young’s moduli had negligible effect on beam curvature; therefore, values from literature were used for ESi and ESiO2 without introducing si...

Design and characterization of a micromachined Fabry?Perot vibration sensor for high-temperature applications

We have designed and characterized a MEMS-based Fabry–Perot device (MFPD) to measure vibration at high temperatures. The MFPD consists of a micromachined cavity formed between a substrate and a top thin film structure in the form of a cantilever beam. When affixed to a vibrating surface, the amplitude and frequency of vibration are determined by illuminating the MFPD top mirror with a monochromatic light source and analyzing the back-reflected light to determine the deflection of the beam with respect to the substrate. Given the device geometry, a mechanical transfer function is calculated to permit the substrate motion to be determined from the relative motion of the beam with respect to the substrate. Because the thin film cantilever beam and the substrate are approximately parallel, this two-mirror cavity arrangement does not require alignment or sophisticated stabilization techniques. The uncooled high-temperature operational capability of the MFPD provides a viable low-cost alternative to sensors that require environmentally controlled packages to operate at high temperature. The small size of the MFPD (85–175 µm) and the choice of materials in which it can be manufactured (silicon nitride and silicon carbide) make it ideal for high-temperature applications. Relative displacements in the sub-nanometer range have been measured and close agreement was found between the measured sensor frequency response and the theoretical predictions based on analytical models.

Development of parallel-plate-based MEMS tunable capacitors with linearized capacitance–voltage response and extended tuning range

This paper presents a design technique that can be used to linearize the capacitance?voltage (C?V) response and extend the tuning range of parallel-plate-based MEMS tunable capacitors beyond that of conventional designs. The proposed technique exploits the curvature of the capacitors moving electrode which could be induced by either manipulating the stress gradients in the plates material or using bi-layer structures. The change in curvature generates a nonlinear structural stiffness as the moving electrode undergoes out-of-plane deformation due to the actuation voltage. If the moving plate curvature is tailored such that the capacitance increment is proportional to the voltage increment, then a linear C?V response is obtained. The larger structural resistive force at higher bias voltage also delays the pull-in and increases the maximum tunability of the capacitor. Moreover, for capacitors containing an insulation layer between the two electrodes, the proposed technique completely eliminates the pull-in effect. The experimental data obtained from different capacitors fabricated using PolyMUMPs demonstrate the advantages of this design approach where highly linear C?V responses and tunabilities as high as 1050% were recorded. The design methodology introduced in this paper could be easily extended to for example, capacitive pressure and temperature sensors or infrared detectors to enhance their response characteristics.

Eliminating the galvanic effect for microdevices fabricated with PolyMUMPs

The galvanic effect may notably damage associated micro-electro-mechanical devices fabricated with processes involving electrochemical steps. This effect is commonly observed when a significant amount of gold is used to design MEMS devices that are fabricated using PolyMUMPsreg. To study and overcome the galvanic effect on these devices, three methods are proposed: (1) connecting the device to a poly0 ring; (2) increasing the device surface area and (3) grounding the device to the substrate. The three methods are compared for their effectiveness in preventing galvanic corrosion. It is observed that although all three methods can considerably restrain the galvanic effect, grounding the device to the substrate is the best solution.

Optical Characterization of Commercial Lithiated Graphite Battery Electrodes and in Situ Fiber Optic Evanescent Wave Spectroscopy

Optical characterization of graphite anodes in lithium ion batteries (LIB) is presented here for potential use in estimating their state of charge (SOC). The characterization is based on reflectance spectroscopy of the anode of commercial LIB cells and in situ optical measurements using an embedded optical fiber sensor. The optical characterization of the anode using wavelengths ranging from 500 to 900 nm supports the dominance of graphite over the solid electrolyte interface in governing the anodes reflectance properties. It is demonstrated that lithiated graphites reflectance has a significant change in the near-infrared band, 750-900 nm, compared with the visible spectrum as a function of SOC. An embedded optical sensor is used to measure the transmittance of graphite anode in the near-infrared band, and the results suggest that a unique inexpensive method may be developed to estimate the SOC of a LIB.

Thermal sensitivity analysis of curved bi-material microcantilevers

Thermal sensitivity of bi-material microcantilevers plays a crucial role in temperature sensors and thermal actuators. Thermal loading experiments on bi-material microcantilevers show the dependence of thermal sensitivity on microcantilever curvature and width which is not addressed by currently used analytical models. In this work, a new thermal sensitivity model for curved bi-material microcantilevers is presented which correlates such dependence to the increase of microcantilever flexural rigidity caused by transverse curvature. The new model is validated against the results of thermal loading experiments carried out on gold-polysilicon and SU-8/silicon nitride bi-material microcantilevers with different widths and initial curvatures.

Frequency response of curved bilayer microcantilevers with applications to surface stress measurement

Bilayer microcantilevers are normally curved because of fabrication-induced stresses. When used in biological/chemical sensing applications, the absorption of target agents onto the functionalized surface of the microcantilever creates a surface stress that shifts its resonance frequency. Despite numerous efforts, the mechanisms of surface stress-induced shift in the resonance frequency of microcantilevers remain elusive. To address this problem, this work presents a detailed analysis of the frequency response of microcantilevers, with different width-to-thickness ratios and curvature levels, using classical lamination theory and the Rayleigh–Ritz method. Based on the results of this analysis, a new relationship between resonance frequency shift and curvature variation due to differential surface stress loading is established. By comparing the strain energies associated with the in-plane and out-of-plane displacements of the microcantilever at different curvature levels, a new implicit model for surface s...

Fast kinetics of thiolic self-assembled monolayer adsorption on gold: modeling and confirmation by protein binding.

This study presents an improved kinetics for the formation of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of thiols on gold substrates. Based on predictions of a computational model developed to study the SAM growth kinetics, SAMs of 11-mercaptoinic acid and 1-octanethiol were successfully formed for the first time within 15 min by incubation of planar gold chips in a 10 mM solution of thiols in pure ethanol. The performance of this new rapid SAM formation protocol is compared to the conventional 24 h incubation protocol by evaluating the binding capacity of a fluorescent-labeled antibody to the SAM samples prepared using both protocols. Tetramethylrhodamine conjugated polyclonal goat γ-globulin (IgG) was bound to all SAMs previously modified with 1-ethyl-3-(3-(dimethylamino)propyl)carbodiimide (EDC) to improve antibody immobilization. Resulting binding density of the fast SAM was evaluated using epifluorescence and atomic force microscopy (AFM) and found to be comparable with reported values in the literature using conventional 24 h protocols.

Linearization and tunability improvement of MEMS capacitors using flexible electrodes and nonlinear structural stiffness

This paper proposes solutions for high nonlinearity and structural instability in electrostatically actuated MEMS capacitors. The proposed designs use the flexibility of the moving electrode and nonlinear structural stiffness to control the characteristic capacitance–voltage (C–V) response. The moving plate displacements are selectively constrained by mechanical stoppers to prevent sudden jumps in the capacitance and to eliminate the pull-in. A symmetric double-humped electrode shape is utilized which results in a fairly constant sensitivity in the C–V curve and therefore a linearized response. An analytical and a finite-element coupled-field model are developed to study the behavior of the proposed capacitors and to optimize their design for maximum linearity. The experimental results verify that the designs introduced in this paper improve the linearity of the C–V response and increase the maximum tunability by three times compared to conventional MEMS parallel-plate capacitors. At the same time, they also eliminate the pull-in hysteresis of the response.

Novel imaging system for measuring microscale curvatures at high temperatures

An innovative system was designed to optically measure the curvature of microelectromechanical system at high temperatures. The system takes advantage of the limited numerical aperture of the imaging system to detect the curvature of cantilever beams. Images of the beam are used to determine beam curvature at high temperatures of up to 850 °C by analyzing the apparent change in beam length as seen by the camera during an experimental trial. The system is designed to operate at very high temperatures, which is difficult in conventional microscale curvature measurement techniques such as scanning electron microscopy or stylus profilometry due to excess heating of peripheral equipment. The system can measure curvatures as small as 300 m−1, which corresponds to tip deflections of 1.5 μm for a 100 μm beam. The resolution of the system is limited by the image resolution of the charge-coupled device camera, and increases at large curvatures. The maximum curvature that can be measured by the system is limited by ...