MEMS Reliability: Infrastructure, Test Structures, Experiments, and Failure Modes
The burgeoning new technology of Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) shows great promise in the weapons arena. We can now conceive of micro-gyros, micro-surety systems, and micro-navigators that are extremely small and inexpensive. Do we want to use this new technology in critical applications such as nuclear weapons? This question drove us to understand the reliability and failure mechanisms of silicon surface-micromachined MEMS. Development of a testing infrastructure was a crucial step to perform reliability experiments on MEMS devices and will be reported here. In addition, reliability test structures have been designed and characterized. Many experiments were performed to investigate failure modes and specifically those in different environments (humidity, temperature, shock, vibration, and storage). A predictive reliability model for wear of rubbing surfaces in microengines was developed. The root causes of failure for operating and non-operating MEMS are discussed. The major failure mechanism for operating MEMS was wear of the polysilicon rubbing surfaces. Reliability design rules for future MEMS devices are established.
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- US Department of Energy (US)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-94AL85000
- OSTI ID:
- 750344
- Report Number(s):
- SAND2000-0091; TRN: US200221%%299
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: 1 Jan 2000
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Integrated superhard and metallic coatings for MEMS : LDRD 57300 final report.
Infrastructure, Technology and Applications of Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS)