Introduction to Microsystem Technology: A Guide for Students (The Wiley Microsystem and Nanotechnology Series) - Hardcover

Gerlach, Gerald; Dotzel, Wolfram

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0470058617 ISBN 13: 9780470058619

Verlag: Wiley, 2008

Inhaltsangabe

Over half a century after the discovery of the piezoresistive effect, microsystem technology has experienced considerable developments. Expanding the opportunities of microelectronics to non-electronic systems, its number of application fields continues to increase. Microsensors are one of the most important fields, used in medical applications and micromechanics. Microfluidic systems are also a significant area, most commonly used in ink-jet printer heads.

This textbook focuses on the essentials of microsystems technology, providing a knowledgeable grounding and a clear path through this well-established scientific dicipline. With a methodical, student-orientated approach, Introduction to Microsystem Technology covers the following:

• microsystem materials (including silicon, polymers and thin films), and the scaling effects of going micro;
• fabrication techniques based on different material properties, descriptions of their limitations and functional and shape elements produced by these techniques;
• sensors and actuators based on elements such as mechanical, fluidic, and thermal (yaw rate sensor components are described);
• the influence of technology parameters on microsystem properties, asking, for example, when is the function of a microsystem device robust and safe?

The book presents problems at the end of each chapter so that you may test your understanding of the key concepts (full solutions for these are given on an accompanying website). Practical examples are included also, as well as case studies that enable a better understanding of the technology as a whole. With its extensive treatment on the fundamentals of microsystem technology, this book also serves as a compendium for engineers and technicians working with microsystem technology.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Gerald Gerlach is currently a Professor for Solid-state Sensors at the Dresden University of Technology, Germany, a post he has held since 1996. His research interests include micromachined solid-state sensors (pressure, humidity, chemical) and sensor fabrication techniques, and he teaches courses in Microtechnology and Sensors. He has also held positions as a Researcher at different German companies making micromachined pressure sensors for biomedical applications, and is active in the sensor and measuring technology fields, having been Chairman of the German Association of University Professors in Measuring Technology (AHMT) and Vice-President of the German Society for Measurement and Control (GMA) since 2002. He has co-authored the German version of this book Einführung in die Mikrosystemtechnik (Hanser, 2006) and has contributed chapters to the book Functional Elements in Precision Engineering (Hanser) and Fabrication in Precision Engineering and Microtechnology (Hanser, 1995). He has also written over 250 journal and conference papers, and holds more than 35 patents.

Wolfram Dötzel is currently Professor for Microsystems and Precision Engineering at Chemnitz University of Technology, also holding the position of Vice-President for Research at the university. His main research fields are in the modelling, design and simulation of micromechanical components, characterization and testing of micromechanical components by experimental methods, and adaptation of methods and principles of precision engineering for microsystems. He teaches courses in Microsystems, reliability and the design of devices and has previously co-authored Einführung in die Mikrosystemtechnik (Hanser, 2006) with Gerald Gerlach. He has also authored a chapter in the book Manual of Data Acquisition (Verlag Technik, 1984), more than 130 publications in journals and conference proceedings on micromechanical and precision engineering components as well as modelling, simulation, and characterization, and holds 8 patents.

This textbook focuses on the essentials of microsystems technology, providing a knowledgeable grounding and a clear path through this well-established scientific dicipline. With a methodical, student-orientated approach, Introduction to Microsystem Technology covers the following:

• microsystem materials (including silicon, polymers and thin films), and the scaling effects of going micro;
• fabrication techniques based on different material properties, descriptions of their limitations and functional and shape elements produced by these techniques;
• sensors and actuators based on elements such as mechanical, fluidic, and thermal (yaw rate sensor components are described);
• the influence of technology parameters on microsystem properties, examing, for example, the robust and safe operation of a microsystem.

The book presents problems at the end of each chapter so that you may test your understanding of the key concepts (full solutions for these are given on an accompanying website). Practical examples are included also, as well as case studies that enable a better understanding of the technology as a whole. With its extensive treatment on the fundamentals of microsystems, this book also serves as a compendium for engineers and technicians working with the technology.

This textbook focuses on the essentials of microsystems technology, providing a knowledgeable grounding and a clear path through this well-established scientific dicipline. With a methodical, student-orientated approach, Introduction to Microsystem Technology covers the following:

• microsystem materials (including silicon, polymers and thin films), and the scaling effects of going micro;
• fabrication techniques based on different material properties, descriptions of their limitations and functional and shape elements produced by these techniques;
• sensors and actuators based on elements such as mechanical, fluidic, and thermal (yaw rate sensor components are described);
• the influence of technology parameters on microsystem properties, examing, for example, the robust and safe operation of a microsystem.

The book presents problems at the end of each chapter so that you may test your understanding of the key concepts (full solutions for these are given on an accompanying website). Practical examples are included also, as well as case studies that enable a better understanding of the technology as a whole. With its extensive treatment on the fundamentals of microsystems, this book also serves as a compendium for engineers and technicians working with the technology.

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Introduction to Microsystem Technology

A Guide for StudentsBy Gerald Gerlach

John Wiley & Sons

Copyright © 2006 Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich/FRG.
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-470-05861-9

Chapter One

Introduction

A radical change in the entire field of electronics began in 1947 when the transistor was invented; 11 years later in 1958 the first integrated semiconductor circuit was built. Ever since, electronics has turned almost completely into semiconductor electronics. Microelectronic manufacturing methods make it possible simultaneously to produce large numbers of similar components with dimensions that are much too small for precision mechanics. The discovery of the piezoresistive effect in 1953 (Figure 1.1, Table 1.1) created the precondition for also applying semiconductor materials and microelectronic production methods to non-electronic components. The first description of how to use a silicon membrane with integrated piezoresistors as mechanical deformation body dates back to 1962.

Uncountable, new miniaturized function and form elements, components and fabrication procedures have since been introduced, combining electrical and non-electrical functions and using semiconductor production technologies or even especially developed microtechnologies (Figure 1.2).

The term 'microsystem technology' has been used for a wide range of miniaturized technical solutions as well as for the corresponding manufacturing technologies and it has no universally acknowledged definition or differentiation.

Similar to microelectronics, the nonelectric domain uses the terms micromachining/ micromechanics, microfluidics or microoptics. Until the mid-1980s, the main focus of research and development was on miniaturized sensors, occasionally also on microactuators. Only after that were examples of complex miniaturized systems, such as micromechanical systems (MEMS) or microsystems, in general, introduced (e.g. gas chromatograph, ink-jet nozzles, force-balanced sensors, analysis systems).

1.1 WHAT IS A MICROSYSTEM?

This book will use the term 'microsystem technology' to mean the following:

Microsystem technology comprises the design, production and application of miniaturized technical systems with elements and components of a typical structural size in the range of micro and nanometers.

A microsystem can be characterized by the semantics of its word components 'micro' and 'system':

Components or elements of microsystems have a typical size in the submillimeter range and these sizes are determined by the components' or elements' functions. In general, the size lies in the range between micrometers and nanometers (Figure 1.3). Such small structural sizes can be achieved by directly using or adapting manufacturing methods of semiconductor technology as well as through specifically developed manufacturing processes that are close to microelectronics (Figure 1.4).

Recently, nanotechnology has started enjoying massive public attention. The prefix 'nano' is used there in two respects. On the one hand, nanotechnology can be applied to downscaling typical sizes, such as the thickness of function layers, from the micrometer down to the nanometer range. Today, typical gate thickness in microelectronic CMOS transistors is only a few dozen nanometers. Here, the term nanotechnology (nanoelectronics, nanoelectronic components) is used for an extremely diminished microtechnology where the known description and design procedures can be applied. On the other hand, the term nanotechnology is used for procedures and components which are only found at a certain miniaturized level. Examples are quantum effects (e.g. quantum dots) as well as tunnel effect devices or single-electron components. This textbook will not address such components.

Microsystems consist of several components which, in turn, consist of function and form elements (Figure 1.5). The components have specific functions, e.g. sensor, actuator, transformation, memory or signal processing functions and they can be constructively autonomous entities (e.g. an integrated circuit). Microsystems include both nonelectric and (micro-)electronic as well as electrical components. The system character is due to the fact that the system can only fulfil the total function if the components interact as a complex miniaturized unity.

Figure 1.6 shows the typical design of microsystems. Sensors and actuators as well as signal processing components that are suitable for system integration are - via appropriate interfaces - integrated with each other but also with the microsystem's environment, e.g. with a technical process that has to be controlled. The individual components consist each of a number of function and form elements that can be produced using corresponding materials and applying micro- and system technology. Microsystem technology is also used for the functional integration of the system components.

In summary, we can define 'microsystem' as follows:

A microsystem is an integrated, miniaturized system that

comprises electrical, mechanical and even other (e.g. optical, fluidic, chemical, biological) components;

is produced by means of semiconductor and microtechnological manufacturing processes;

contains sensor, actuator and signal functions;

comprises function elements and components in the range of micro- and nanometers and has itself dimensions in the range of micro- or millimeters.

This definition does not strictly distinguish between micro- and nanosystems. As microelectronics already uses ultrathin layers of only a few nanometers it has crossed the line to nanotechnology. Piezoresistive resistors are standard function elements in microsystem technology and they act as conduction areas for a two-dimensional electron gas if they are less than 10 nm thick. The resulting quantum effects lead to a substantial increase in the piezoresistive coefficients. Microsystems usually contain electrical and mechanical components as a minimum.

Thus, sensors have function elements for detecting non-electrical values (e.g. mechanical deformation values such as cantilevers or bending plates which are deformed by the effect of the measurand force or pressure), transformer elements for transforming the measurand into electrical values (e.g. piezoresistive resistors in the cantilever elements) as well as components for processing electrical signals. Vice versa, the same applies to electromechanical drives. Electrical functions und their corresponding microsystem components are used for signal extraction and processing as well as for power supply. At the same time, microsystems have - as a minimum - mechanical support functions, often even further reaching mechanical functionalities.

Coinciding with its purpose, a microsystem can also have other function elements in addition to the electrical and mechanical ones. The smallness of a microsystem's function components is often a prerequisite for applying a certain function principle. On the other hand, however, miniaturization makes a coupling to technical systems in our 'macroworld' more difficult. Therefore, complete microsystems often have dimensions in the range of millimeters which clearly facilitates their integration into other systems. Here the transition from the micro- to macroworld already takes place in the packaging of microsystems. However, even here the term microsystem is commonly used.

1.2 MICROELECTRONICS AND MICROSYSTEM TECHNOLOGY...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Wiley
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2008
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0470058617
• ISBN 13: 9780470058619
• Einband: Gebundene Ausgabe
• Auflage: 1
• Anzahl der Seiten: 376
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Wiley-VCH GmbH; product_safety@wiley.com; ; Boschstrasse 12; Weinheim; 69469; Deutschland