Present and Future Applications of MEMS for Automotive Industry

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 (DPC) ◽  
pp. 001851-001892
Author(s):  
Thibault Buisson
Keyword(s):  
High Pressures ◽  
Failure Mechanisms ◽  
Extreme Environments ◽  
Pressure Sensors ◽  
Harsh Environments ◽  
Fe Model ◽  
Potential Candidate ◽  
Mems Devices ◽  
Technology Modeling ◽  
Sintered Ag

MEMS are found in many applications, ranging from large volume consumer applications such as mobile phones to specific high end devices for defense or space. MEMS market will continue to see steady, sustainable double digit growth for the next six years, with 20% compound average annual growth in units and 13% growth in revenues, to become a $21 billion market by 2017. Automotive applications represent today around 20% of the MEMS market in revenue and are expected to see a 5.4 % growth in the next five years, which means that the penetration of MEMS devices in this market will remain limited. Today, MEMS family in cars is mainly represented by pressure sensors for Tire Pressure Monitoring and Manifold Air Pressure sensing, and accelerometers in ABS and stabilization systems. These applications are reaching maturity, which mean that their growth gets directly related to the car sales. To find new growth opportunities, system integrators have been trying to develop new MEMS based systems to enhance safety, comfort and reduce pollution and energy consumption. The presentation will show emerging applications and the challenges they face from a technical and a market point of view. Diverse electronic packages operate under exceptionally harsh environments, which require extended lifetimes, presenting a significant challenge for the microelectronics community. Operating temperatures above 200 °C together with high pressures, vibrations and potentially corrosive environments implies that some technical issues regarding the development of electronic systems that will operate at such high temperature remain. Technology based on sintering has been recently emerging for power modules, capable of withstanding up to 300 °C. Sintered Ag is one potential candidate for die attachment for extreme environments. The application of sintered Ag has proven already to significantly increase the lifetime of interconnects when compared to solder joints. Both characterization of the failure mechanisms as well as prediction of product life in such environments is critical to the long term reliability of these devices. The present work aims to develop an understanding of how and why attach materials for Si dies degrade/fail under harsh environments by investigating sintered Ag material. New failure mechanisms will become dominant in the sintered Ag technology. Modeling helps understanding how a particular system behaves if conditions are altered. Thus, a 2D axis symmetric die attach model, commonly used to represent microelectronic package assemblies, was generated using Ansys Workbench. The FE-model provided a good understanding of the effect of single parameter variation of different leadframe materials (K64, K14, and FeNi42), chip height, sintered Ag and metallization thicknesses. The FE-model provided a rapid assessment of delamination, cracking and other defects and their location within the package. The effect of the sintered Ag thickness on the plastic strain was only slight. Furthermore, on the chip side, the local thermal mismatch between the Si die and the sintered Ag was the most important loading factor. Also, thicker chips generated higher stresses. Further analysis of simulation and experiment of sintered Ag interconnects will give more insight on dominating failure mechanisms, and help reduce failure risks.

Thermo-mechanical simulation of sintered Ag die attach for high temperature applications

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 (HITEC) ◽  
pp. 000378-000384 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.F. Sousa ◽  
M.v. Dijk ◽  
H. Walter ◽  
C. Weber ◽  
M. Hutter ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Temperature ◽  
High Pressures ◽  
Extreme Environments ◽  
Harsh Environments ◽  
Fe Model ◽  
Potential Candidate ◽  
Die Attach ◽  
Sintered Ag ◽  
Corrosive Environments ◽  
Temperature Applications

Diverse electronic packages operate under exceptionally harsh environments, which require extended lifetimes, presenting a significant challenge for the microelectronics community. Operating temperatures above 200°C together with high pressures, vibrations and potentially corrosive environments implies that some technical issues regarding the development of electronic systems that will operate at such high temperature remain. Recent technology has been emerging for high temperature applications, capable of withstanding up to 300°C. Sintered Ag is one potential candidate for die attachment for extreme environments. The present work aims to develop understanding of how and why attach materials for Si dies degrade/fail under harsh environments by investigating sintered Ag material. A 2D axis-symmetric die attach model, commonly used to represent microelectronic package assemblies, was developed. The FE model provided a good understanding of the effect of single parameter variation of different leadframe materials, sintered Ag and chip thicknesses. The effect of the sintered Ag thickness on the plastic strain was very little. Furthermore, on the chip side, the local thermal mismatch between the Si die and the sintered Ag was the most important loading factor. Also, thicker chips generated higher stresses in the die.

scholarly journals Cavity-BOX SOI: Advanced Silicon Substrate with Pre-Patterned BOX for Monolithic MEMS Fabrication

Micromachines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 414
Author(s):  
Marta Maria Kluba ◽  
Jian Li ◽  
Katja Parkkinen ◽  
Marcus Louwerse ◽  
Jaap Snijder ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Complex Geometry ◽  
Pressure Sensors ◽  
Silicon On Insulator ◽  
Test Case ◽  
Mems Devices ◽  
Device Layer ◽  
Mems Fabrication ◽  
Silicon Islands ◽  
Design Freedom ◽  
Deep Brain

Several Silicon on Insulator (SOI) wafer manufacturers are now offering products with customer-defined cavities etched in the handle wafer, which significantly simplifies the fabrication of MEMS devices such as pressure sensors. This paper presents a novel cavity buried oxide (BOX) SOI substrate (cavity-BOX) that contains a patterned BOX layer. The patterned BOX can form a buried microchannels network, or serve as a stop layer and a buried hard-etch mask, to accurately pattern the device layer while etching it from the backside of the wafer using the cleanroom microfabrication compatible tools and methods. The use of the cavity-BOX as a buried hard-etch mask is demonstrated by applying it for the fabrication of a deep brain stimulation (DBS) demonstrator. The demonstrator consists of a large flexible area and precisely defined 80 µm-thick silicon islands wrapped into a 1.4 mm diameter cylinder. With cavity-BOX, the process of thinning and separating the silicon islands was largely simplified and became more robust. This test case illustrates how cavity-BOX wafers can advance the fabrication of various MEMS devices, especially those with complex geometry and added functionality, by enabling more design freedom and easing the optimization of the fabrication process.

Stiction Failure Mechanisms of the Micromachined Electrostatic Comb-Drive Structures

2011 ◽  
Vol 80-81 ◽  
pp. 850-854
Author(s):  
Yi Shen Xu ◽  
Ji Hua Gu ◽  
Zhi Tao
Keyword(s):  
Failure Modes ◽  
Failure Mechanisms ◽  
Mems Devices ◽  
Comb Drive ◽  
Interfacial Forces ◽  
Restoring Forces ◽  
Critical Investigation

Stiction is one of the most important and almost unavoidable problems in MEMS, which usually occurs when the restoring forces of the microstructures are unable to overcome the interfacial forces. Stiction could compromise the performance and reliability of the MEMS devices or may even make them malfunction. One of the pivotal process of advancing the performance and reliability of MEMS is to comprehend the failure modes and failure mechanisms of these microdevices. This article provides a critical investigation on the stiction failure mechanisms of the micromachined electrostatic comb-drive structures, which is significant to improve the reliability of microdevices, especially for microfilters, microgrippers, microaccelerometers, microgyroscopes, microrelays, and so on.

scholarly journals A Ceramic Diffusion Bonding Method for Passive LC High-Temperature Pressure Sensor

Sensors ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (8) ◽  
pp. 2676
Author(s):  
Chen Li ◽  
Boshan Sun ◽  
Yanan Xue ◽  
Jijun Xiong
Keyword(s):  
High Temperature ◽  
Pressure Sensor ◽  
Pressure Sensors ◽  
Alumina Ceramic ◽  
Harsh Environments ◽  
Ceramic Substrates ◽  
Integrated Technology ◽  
All Ceramic ◽  
Test Platform ◽  
Bonding Method

Alumina ceramic is a highly promising material for fabricating high-temperature pressure sensors. In this paper, a direct bonding method for fabricating a sensitive cavity with alumina ceramic is presented. Alumina ceramic substrates were bonded together to form a sensitive cavity for high-temperature pressure environments. The device can sense pressure parameters at high temperatures. To verify the sensitivity performance of the fabrication method in high-temperature environments, an inductor and capacitor were integrated on the ceramic substrate with the fabricated sensitive cavity to form a wireless passive LC pressure sensor with thick-film integrated technology. Finally, the fabricated sensor was tested using a system test platform. The experimental results show that the sensor can realize pressure measurements above 900 °C, confirming that the fabricated sensitive cavity has excellent sealing properties. Therefore, the direct bonding method can potentially be used for developing all-ceramic high-temperature pressure sensors for application in harsh environments.

scholarly journals Adhesive-Free Bonding of Monolithic Sapphire for Pressure Sensing in Extreme Environments

Sensors ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (8) ◽  
pp. 2712 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jihaeng Yi
Keyword(s):  
Room Temperature ◽  
Extreme Environments ◽  
Optical Signal ◽  
Harsh Environments ◽  
Free Space Optics ◽  
Pressure Sensing ◽  
Space Optics ◽  
Fabry Perot ◽  
Deflection Theory

This paper presents a monolithic sapphire pressure sensor that is constructed from two commercially available sapphire wafers through a combination of reactive-ion etching and wafer bonding. A Fabry–Perot (FP) cavity is sealed fully between the adhesive-free bonded sapphire wafers and thus acts as a pressure transducer. A combination of standard silica fiber, bonded sapphire wafers and free-space optics is proposed to couple the optical signal to the FP cavity of the sensor. The pressure in the FP cavity is measured by applying both white-light interferometry and diaphragm deflection theory over a range of 0.03 to 3.45 MPa at room temperature. With an all-sapphire configuration, the adhesive-free bonded sapphire sensor is expected to be suitable for in-situ pressure measurements in extreme harsh environments.

scholarly journals All-Sapphire Fiber-Optic Pressure Sensors for Extreme Harsh Environments

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhiqiang Shao ◽  
Yalin Wu ◽  
Shuang Wang ◽  
Yan Wang ◽  
Zhiqiang Sun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fiber Optic ◽  
Pressure Sensors ◽  
Harsh Environments ◽  
Sapphire Fiber

Effect of γ-ray irradiation on performance of LiNbO(3)-based piezoelectric vibration sensors

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huifen Wei ◽  
Wenping Geng ◽  
Kaixi Bi ◽  
Tao Li ◽  
Xiangmeng Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gamma Ray ◽  
Extreme Environments ◽  
Theoretical Work ◽  
High Dose ◽  
Mems Devices ◽  
Micro Electro Mechanical Systems ◽  
Vibration Sensors ◽  
Irradiation Dosage ◽  
Gamma Ray Irradiation ◽  
Γ Ray

Abstract LiNbO3 (LN)-based micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) vibration sensors exhibit giant prospection in extreme environments, where exist a great amount of irradiation. However, to the best of our knowledge, it is still unknown whether the irradiation affects the performance of LN-based piezoelectric MEMS sensors. Based on this consideration, it is necessary to model the irradiation environment to investigate the effect of high dosage irradiation on LN-based vibration sensors. Firstly, the theoretical work is done to study the Compton Effect on the Gamma-ray irradiation with Co-60 source. After irradiation, X-ray diffraction (XRD) characterization was performed to verify the effect of irradiation on the crystalline of LN thin film. Meanwhile, the performances of output voltages on the five MEMS devices under various dosage of irradiation are compared. As a result, a neglected shift of 0.02 degrees was observed from the XRD image only under maximum irradiation dosage of 100 Mrad(Si). Moreover, the output voltages of cantilever-beam vibration sensors decrease by 3.1%. Therefore, it is verified that the γ-ray irradiation has very little influence on the LN-based MEMS vibration sensors, which have great attraction on the materials and sensors under high-dose irradiation.

Ultra-thin nanocrystalline diamond membranes as pressure sensors for harsh environments

2014 ◽  
Vol 104 (7) ◽  
pp. 073107 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. D. Janssens ◽  
S. Drijkoningen ◽  
K. Haenen
Keyword(s):  
Pressure Sensors ◽  
Nanocrystalline Diamond ◽  
Harsh Environments

scholarly journals High pressures increase α-chymotrypsin enzyme activity under perchlorate stress

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stewart Gault ◽  
Michel W. Jaworek ◽  
Roland Winter ◽  
Charles S. Cockell
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Enzyme Activity ◽  
Phase Space ◽  
High Pressures ◽  
Extreme Environments ◽  
Combined Effects ◽  
Deep Subsurface ◽  
Subsurface Environments ◽  
Dissolved Ions ◽  
High Concentrations

Abstract Deep subsurface environments can harbour high concentrations of dissolved ions, yet we know little about how this shapes the conditions for life. We know even less about how the combined effects of high pressure influence the way in which ions constrain the possibilities for life. One such ion is perchlorate, which is found in extreme environments on Earth and pervasively on Mars. We investigated the interactions of high pressure and high perchlorate concentrations on enzymatic activity. We demonstrate that high pressures increase α-chymotrypsin enzyme activity even in the presence of high perchlorate concentrations. Perchlorate salts were shown to shift the folded α-chymotrypsin phase space to lower temperatures and pressures. The results presented here may suggest that high pressures increase the habitability of environments under perchlorate stress. Therefore, deep subsurface environments that combine these stressors, potentially including the subsurface of Mars, may be more habitable than previously thought.

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