Microsystem Design

The goal of this book is to bring together into one accessible text the fundamentals of the many disciplines needed by today's engineer working in the field of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). The subject matter is wide-ranging: microfabrication, mechanics, heat flow, electronics, noise, and dynamics of systems, with and without feedback. Because it is very difficult to enunciate principles of `good design' in the abstract, the book is organized around a set of Case Studies that are based on real products, or, where appropriately well-documented products could not be found, on thoroughly published prototype work. The Case Studies were selected to sample a multidimensional space: different manufacturing and fabrication methods, different device applications, and different physical effects used for transduction. The Case Study subjects are: the design and packaging of a piezoresistive pressure sensor, a capacitively-sensed accelerometer, a quartz piezoelectrically-driven and sensed rate gyroscope, two electrostatically-actuated optical projection displays, two microsystems for the amplification of DNA, and a catalytic sensor for combustible gases. This book is used for a graduate course in `Design and Fabrication of Microelectromechanical Devices (MEMS)' at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It is appropriate for textbook use by senior/graduate courses in MEMS, and will be a useful reference for the active MEMS professional. Each chapter is supplemented with homework problems and suggested related reading. In addition, the book is supported by a web site that will include additional homework exercises, suggested design problems and related teaching materials, and software used in the textbook examples and homework problems. The goal of this book is to bring together into one accessible text the fundamentals of the many disciplines needed by today's engineer working in the field of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS).

The subject matter is wide-ranging: microfabrication, mechanics, heat flow, electronics, noise, and dynamics of systems, with and without feedback. Because it is very difficult to enunciate principles of `good design' in the abstract, the book is organized around a set of Case Studies that are based on real products, or, where appropriately well-documented products could not be found, on thoroughly published prototype work.

The Case Studies were selected to sample a multidimensional space: different manufacturing and fabrication methods, different device applications, and different physical effects used for transduction. The Case Study subjects are: the design and packaging of a piezoresistive pressure sensor, a capacitively-sensed accelerometer, a quartz piezoelectrically-driven and sensed rate gyroscope, two electrostatically-actuated optical projection displays, two microsystems for the amplification of DNA, and a catalytic sensor for combustible gases.

This book is used for a graduate course in "Design and Fabrication of Microelectromechanical Devices (MEMS)" at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It is appropriate for textbook use by senior/graduate courses in MEMS, and will be a useful reference for the active MEMS professional.

Each chapter is supplemented with homework problems and suggested related reading. In addition, the book is supported by a web site that will include additional homework exercises, suggested design problems and related teachingmaterials, and software used in the textbook examples and homework problems.

It is a real pleasure to write the Foreword for this book, both because I have known and respected its author for many years and because I expect this book’s publication will mark an important milestone in the continuing worldwide development of microsystems. By bringing together all aspects of microsystem design, it can be expected to facilitate the training of not only a new generation of engineers, but perhaps a whole new type of engineer – one capable of addressing the complex range of problems involved in reducing entire systems to the micro- and nano-domains. This book breaks down disciplinary barriers to set the stage for systems we do not even dream of today. Microsystems have a long history, dating back to the earliest days of mic- electronics. While integrated circuits developed in the early 1960s, a number of laboratories worked to use the same technology base to form integrated sensors. The idea was to reduce cost and perhaps put the sensors and circuits together on the same chip. By the late-60s, integrated MOS-photodiode arrays had been developed for visible imaging, and silicon etching was being used to create thin diaphragms that could convert pressure into an electrical signal. By 1970, selective anisotropic etching was being used for diaphragm formation, retaining a thick silicon rim to absorb package-induced stresses. Impurity- and electrochemically-based etch-stops soon emerged, and "bulk micromachining" came into its own. Introduction....Pages 3-14 An Approach to Mems Design....Pages 15-28 Microfabrication....Pages 29-78 Process Integation....Pages 79-99 Lumped Modeling with Circuit Elements....Pages 103-124 Energy-conserving Transducers....Pages 125-147 Lumped-element System Dynamics....Pages 149-180 Elasticity....Pages 183-200 Structures....Pages 201-238 Energy Methods....Pages 239-265 Dissipation and the Thermal Energy Domain....Pages 267-297 Lumped Modeling of Dissipative Processes....Pages 299-315 Fluids....Pages 317-350 Electronics....Pages 353-396 Feedback Systems....Pages 397-423 Noise....Pages 425-450 Packaging....Pages 453-468 A Piezoresistive Pressure Sensor....Pages 469-495 A Capacitive Accelerometer....Pages 497-530 Electrostatic Projection Displays....Pages 531-560 A Piezoelectric Rate Gyroscope....Pages 561-604 Microsystems for DNA Amplification....Pages 605-627 A Microbridge Combustible-gas Sensor....Pages 629-664 This text aims to bring together, in an accessible form, the fundamentals of the wide-ranging disciplines needed by engineers working in the field of micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS). The book is organized around a set of case studies based on real products or published prototype work