MEMS

Department of Mechanical Engineering, CET

Introduction
MEMS or Micro ElectroMechanical Systems
are advanced product and equipment design
concept that cater to the realization of
miniaturized products.
It is usually the combination of sub domains
such as IC technology and ultra-precision
micro-machining.

Department of Mechanical Engineering, CET

Types of MEMS
Microsensors
Microactuators
Mechanical MEMS
Thermal MEMS
MOEMS
Magnetic MEMS
RF MEMS
Microfluidic Systems
Bio and Chemo Devices
Department of Mechanical Engineering, CET

Micromachining Techniques
The various micromachining techniques used for MEMS
fabrication are the following,
Photolithography
Thin film deposition
Impurity doping
Etching
Micromilling and microdrilling
Wafer bonding
LIGA process
Department of Mechanical Engineering, CET

Photolithography
It is the process of using light to create a pattern known as a
mask and to transfer it to the substrate wafer.
1. Preparation of a mask, made of UV transparent glass on which
the required pattern is formed by depositing very thin layer of
metals like chromium or gold.
2. Application of a photoresist (+ve or ve type) layer on the
chemically cleaned substrae surface.
3. Exposure using UV light
4. Selective removal of the substrate layer
5. Removal of the photoresist layer
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Photolithography Steps

Department of Mechanical Engineering, CET

Photolithography Steps

Department of Mechanical Engineering, CET

Thin Film Deposition

It is the process of forming a thin layer of materials over the
substrate that are subsequently etched. It is done by two types
processes;
Depositons resulting from a
chemical reaction

Depositions resulting from a

physical reaction

Chemical Vapor Deposition

Electro Deposition
Epitaxy
Thermal Oxidation

Physical Vapor Deposition

Casting

Department of Mechanical Engineering, CET

Chemical Vapor Deposition

In this process, the substrate is placed inside a reactor to which a number
of gases are admitted. A chemical reaction takes place between the source
gases, the product of which is a solid material which condenses on all
surfaces inside the reactor.

Department of Mechanical Engineering, CET

Electrodeposition
This process is similar to "electroplating" and is typically restricted to electrically
conductive materials.
In the electroplating process the substrate is placed in a liquid solution
(electrolyte). When an electrical potential is applied between a conducting area
on the substrate and a counter electrode (usually platinum) in the liquid, a
chemical redox process takes place resulting in the formation of a layer of
material on the substrate and usually some gas generation at the counter
electrode.
In the electroless plating process a more complex chemical solution is
used, in which deposition happens spontaneously on any surface which forms a
sufficiently high electrochemical potential with the solution. This process is
desirable since it does not require any external electrical potential and contact to
the substrate during processing. But it is also more difficult to control with
regards to film thickness and uniformity.

Department of Mechanical Engineering, CET

Electrodeposition

Department of Mechanical Engineering, CET

Epitaxy
It is a process similar to the CVD in which material is grown on
the substrate material acting as a seed. The grown materials will
have the same crystallographic properties as the seed. This
process offers high growth rates and film thickness and is
primarily used to deposit silicon.

Department of Mechanical Engineering, CET

Thermal Oxidation
It involves oxidation of the substrate surface in an oxygen rich atmosphere a
high temperature about 800C-1100C. It is the only deposition technique
which consumes some of the substrate as it proceeds. The growth of the film is
spurned by diffusion of oxygen into the substrate, which means the film growth
is actually downwards into the substrate.

Department of Mechanical Engineering, CET

Physical Vapour Deposition

PVD involves deposition techniques in which

material is released from a source and transferred to
the substrate using methods like evaporation and
sputtering.
These methods are mainly used for metals since
it is a cost effective process but has inferior film
properties compared to CVD.

Department of Mechanical Engineering, CET

PVD - Evaporation
In evaporation the substrate is placed inside a vacuum
chamber, in which a block of the material to be deposited is also
located. The source material is then heated to the point where it
starts to boil and evaporate. The vacuum is required to allow the
molecules to evaporate freely in the chamber, and they subsequently
condense on all surfaces.
The heating can be done by bombarding an electron beam on
to the source material or by keeping the source material on a
tungsten boat that is heated electrically with a high current to make
the material evaporate.

Department of Mechanical Engineering, CET

PVD - Evaporation

Department of Mechanical Engineering, CET

PVD - Sputtering
In sputtering the material is released from the source at much
lower temperature than evaporation. The substrate is placed in a vacuum
chamber with the source material, which forms a target, and an inert gas
(such as argon) is introduced at low pressure. A gas plasma is struck
using an RF power source, causing the gas to become ionized. The ions
are accelerated towards the surface of the target, causing atoms of the
source material to break off from the target in vapor form and condense
on all surfaces including the substrate.

Department of Mechanical Engineering, CET

Casting
In this method the material to be deposited is dissolved in liquid form in
a solvent. The material is applied to the substrate by spraying or
spinning. After the solvent is evaporated, a thin film of the material
remains on the substrate. This is particularly used for polymer materials,
which may be easily dissolved in organic solvents, and it is the common
method used to apply photoresist to substrates (in photolithography).

Department of Mechanical Engineering, CET

Impurity Doping
Doping is the intentional introduction of impurities in to the crystal
lattices to change the original material properties, mainly electrical
properties. It is done by processes as diffusion and ion implantation,
the latter method being more popular in large production runs because
of increased controllability.
Thus ion implantation is a special case of particle radiation. Each ion is
typically a single atom or molecule, and thus the actual amount of
material implanted in the target is the integral over time of the ion
current. This amount is called the dose. The currents supplied by
implanters are typically small (microamperes), and thus the dose which
can be implanted in a reasonable amount of time is small. Therefore, ion
implantation finds application in cases where the amount of chemical
change required is small.

Department of Mechanical Engineering, CET

Ion Implantation

Department of Mechanical Engineering, CET

Etching
The etching is removing of material from the substrate
There are two different forms
1. Wet etching, in which material is dissolved by a
solution of reagents
2. Dry etching where the etching is carried out by
sputtering or by exposing to reactive ions in vapour
phase

Department of Mechanical Engineering, CET

Department of Mechanical Engineering, CET

Department of Mechanical Engineering, CET

In Deep Ion Etching process, etch depths of hundreds of microns can be

achieved with almost vertical sidewalls. The primary technology is based
on the so-called "Bosch process", named after the German company
Robert Bosch which filed the original patent, where two different gas
compositions are alternated in the reactor. The first gas composition
creates a polymer on the surface of the substrate, and the second gas
composition etches the substrate. The polymer is immediately sputtered
away by the physical part of the etching, but only on the horizontal
surfaces and not the sidewalls. Since the polymer only dissolves very
slowly in the chemical part of the etching, it builds up on the sidewalls
and protects them from etching. As a result, etching aspect ratios of 50
to 1 can be achieved. The process can easily be used to etch completely
through a silicon substrate, and etch rates are 3-4 times higher than wet
etching.

Department of Mechanical Engineering, CET

Reactive ion etching

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DRIE samples

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MOEMS Examples
The DLP technology used in multimedia projectors

Department of Mechanical Engineering, CET

DLP

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Department of Mechanical Engineering, CET

Department of Mechanical Engineering, CET

Department of Mechanical Engineering, CET

Department of Mechanical Engineering, CET

Department of Mechanical Engineering, CET

Department of Mechanical Engineering, CET

Department of Mechanical Engineering, CET