Micropower for Remote, Autonomous Microsystems

这个工程微系统：“XYZ”on a Chip项目的目标是解决对开发适合远程、自主微系统的电力系统至关重要的问题。任何微型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交互，其中一类重要的设备包括远程自主设备，旨在无需物理(硬线)连接进行通信或供电。拟议的工作建立在研究人员与微系统公司以前的经验基础上，以解决基本问题，以开发、演示和评估一种将微电池与电子组件集成到单个芯片上的方法。这将通过设计和制造一个简单的电路来实现，包括顺序集成中的电池和适当的电气连接。将开发一种新的制造工艺，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，并将这些MEMS开关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.