Scribd
Upload
88 views2 pages

Mems Advanced

Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) are tiny devices between 1 to 100 micrometers in size that usually contain a central processing unit and interacting microsensors. They are made using integrated circuit fabrication processes and materials like silicon. MEMS have developed significantly in recent decades due to advances in microfabrication technologies. They are now used in applications like sensors, biomedical devices, displays, and more. Silicon micromachining is a key technology that allows creating mechanical structures on the microscale for MEMS.

Uploaded by

Anish Nani
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
88 views2 pages

Mems Advanced

Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) are tiny devices between 1 to 100 micrometers in size that usually contain a central processing unit and interacting microsensors. They are made using integrated circuit fabrication processes and materials like silicon. MEMS have developed significantly in recent decades due to advances in microfabrication technologies. They are now used in applications like sensors, biomedical devices, displays, and more. Silicon micromachining is a key technology that allows creating mechanical structures on the microscale for MEMS.

Uploaded by

Anish Nani
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) (also written as micro-electromechanical, MicroElectroMechanical or microelectronic and microelectromechanical systems) is the technology of very small

devices; MEMS are also referred to as micromachines (in Japan), or micro systems technology MST(in Europe). MEMS are separate and distinct from the hypothetical vision of molecular nanotechnology or molecular electronics. MEMS are made up of components between 1 to 100 micrometres in size (i.e. 0.001 to 0.1 mm), and MEMS devices generally range in size from 20 micrometres (20 millionths of a metre) to a millimetre (i.e. 0.02 to 1.0 mm). They usually consist of a central unit that processes data (the microprocessor) and several components that interact with the surroundings such as microsensors. At these size scales, the standard constructs of classical physics are not always useful. Because of the large surface area to volume ratio of MEMS, surface effects such as electrostatics and wetting dominate over volume effects such as inertia or thermal mass. MEMS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT MEMS have developed in the past decades, especially in the last fifteen years. In the beginning of 1990s, MEMS emerged with the aid of the development of integrated circuit (IC) fabrication processes, in which sensors, actuators, and control functions are cofabricated in silicon. Since then, remarkable research progresses have been achieved in MEMS under the strong capital promotions from both government and industries. In addition to the commercialization of some less integrated MEMS devices, such as microaccelerometers, inkjet printer head, micromirrors for projection, etc., the concepts and feasibility of more complex MEMS devices have been proposed and demonstrated for the applications in such varied fields as microfluidics, aerospace, biomedical, chemical analysis, wireless communications, data storage, display, optics, etc. Some branches of MEMS, appearing as microoptoelectromechanical systems (MOEMS), micrototal analysis systems (TAS), etc., have attracted a great deal of research interests since their potential applications market. As of the end of 1990s, most of MEMS devices with various sensing or actuating mechanisms were fabricated using silicon bulk micromachining, surface micromachining, and lithography, galvanoforming, moulding (LIGA) processes. Three-dimensional (3D) microfabrication processes incorporating more materials were presented for MEMS recently, when some specific application requirements (e.g., Biomedical devices) and the microactuators with higher output power were called for in MEMS. Micromachining has become the fundamental technology for the fabrication of microelectromechanical devices and, in particular, miniaturized sensors and actuators. Silicon micromachining is the most advanced of the micromachining technologies, and it allows for the fabrication of MEMS that have dimensions in the submillimeter range. It refers to fashioning microscopic mechanical parts out of silicon substrate or on a silicon substrate, making the structures three dimensional and bringing new principles to the designers. Employing materials such as crystalline silicon,

polycrystalline silicon, silicon nitride, etc., a variety of mechanical microstructures including beams, diaphragms, grooves, orifices, springs, gears, suspensions, and a great diversity of other complex mechanical structures have been conceived. Sometimes many microdevices can also be fabricated using semiconductor processing technologies or stereolithography on the polymeric multifunctional structures.

You might also like