Micropower for Remote, Autonomous Microsystems

这个工程微系统：“XYZ”芯片项目的目标是解决适合远程自主微系统的电源系统开发所必需的问题。 任何微电源的一个关键要素是存储能量并在适当的时间以所需的形式提供能量的能力。近年来，微制造技术已经扩展到更广泛的设备，提供了一个全新的功能水平。这些新设备能够与物理世界进行交互，其中一个重要类别包括远程自主设备，这些设备旨在在没有物理环境的情况下运行。（硬线）连接的通信或电力。拟议的工作建立在以前的经验，研究人员与微系统，以解决基本问题的发展，演示和评估在单个芯片上集成微电池和电子元件的方法。这将通过设计和制造一个简单的电路，包括电池和适当的电气连接，在一个顺序的集成。一种新的制造工艺将被开发用于直接在硅衬底上制造微电池。 此外，目标是开发MEMS开关作为微电池阵列的使能技术，以提供适合远程自主微系统的灵活电源系统。 将开发和演示适用于微电池的开关驱动，这些MEMS开关将连接到微电池阵列，以演示系统的性能。

The goal of this Engineering Microsystems: "XYZ" on a Chip project is to address issues that are essential to the development of a power system suitable for remote, autonomous microsystems. A critical element of any micropower supply is the ability to store energy and deliver it at the appropriate time and in the require form. In recent years, microfabrication techniques have been extended to a broader range of devices that offer a whole new level of functionality. These new devices are capable of interacting with the physical world, and an important class of these includes the remote, autonomous devices intended to operate without physical (hardwire) connections for either communication or power.The proposed work builds upon the previous experience of the investigators with microsystems to address fundamental issues to develop, demonstrate and evaluate a method for integration of a microbattery with electronic components on a single chip. This will be accomplished by the design and fabrication of a simple circuit, including the batteries and appropriate electrical connections, in a sequential integration. A new fabrication process will be developed for microbattery fabrication directly in the silicon substrate. In addition, the objective is to develop MEMS switches as an enabling technology for microbattery arrays to provide a flexible power system suitable for remote, autonomous microsystems. Switch actuation suitable for use with microbatteries will be developed and demonstrated, and these MEMS switches will be connected to a microbattery array to demonstrate the performance of the system.