Wear of MEMS: Metrology, Hard Coatings and Process Integration

人们对开发使用硅和其他电子材料作为机械材料的技术越来越感兴趣。使用集成电路行业的标准工艺，研究人员成功地制造了微型机械部件或微型机械。微型化机械部件与微电子部件的集成催生了一种新技术，称为微电子机械系统(MEMS)。它有望将微电子制造的好处扩展到传感和驱动功能。然而，考虑到微机械的尺寸，粘着、摩擦和磨损等表面现象是困扰MEMS行业的成品率和可靠性问题的主要来源。随着微系统技术开始向纳米尺度过渡，这些问题将持续存在，甚至升级。我们和其他人最近的研究成功地解决了粘附性(在本文中通常称为粘附性)的问题。本提案旨在了解和克服MEMS中的磨损问题。这项拟议的研究有望产生与我们最近开发的释放-防静电技术兼容的耐磨工艺，以实现坚固、可制造、低成本的MEMS器件的最终目标。在MEMS中实现防粘、自润滑、耐磨涂层的影响是多方面的。(I)在经济上，这将导致制造的微型部件和微型机械的寿命延长和可靠性提高；(Ii)从制造的角度来看，这将简化带有移动部件的微型机械的设计；(Iii)由于消除了液体润滑剂，它还将对环境产生影响。(4)该项目将为研究生提供核心培训。

There is a growing interest in developing technologies which use silicon and other electronic materials as mechanical materials. Using standard processes of the integrated circuit industry, researchers have successfully fabricated miniature mechanical components, or micromachines. The integration of miniaturized mechanical components with microelectronic components has spawned a new technology, known as microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). It promises to extend the benefits of microelectronic fabrication to sensing and actuating functions. However, given the dimensions of micromachines, surface phenomena such as adhesion, friction, and wear are principal source of yield and reliability concerns plaguing MEMS industry. These issues will persist, indeed escalate, as microsystems technologies begin to transition into the nanoscale. Recent research by us and others has successfully addressed the issue of adhesion (often termed stiction in this context). The present proposal aims to understand and overcome the problem of wear in MEMS. The proposed research is expected to result in wear-resistant processes that are compatible with the release-antistiction technology we have recently developed, to achieve the ultimate goal of robust, manufacturable, low cost MEMS devices. The impact of achieving anti-stiction, self-lubricating, wear resistant coatings in MEMS is manifold. (i) Economically, it would lead to increased lifetime, and reliability of manufactured microparts and micromachines; (ii) From the manufacturing point of view, it would lead to simplified design of micromachines with moving parts; (iii) It would also have an environmental impact via the elimination of liquid lubricants. (iv) The project will provide core training for a graduate student.