Failure analysis of surface-micromachined microengines
Microelectronic failure analysis (FA) has been an integral part of the development of state-of-the-art integrated circuits. FA of MicroElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS) is moving from its infancy stage to assume an important role in the successful design, fabrication, performance and reliability analysis for this new technology. In previous work, the authors focused on the application of several techniques developed for integrated circuit analysis to an earlier version of a surface micromachined microengine fabricated at Sandia. Recently, they have identified important new failure modes in binary counters that incorporate a newer design of the microengine, using a subset of integrated circuit failure analysis techniques including optical microscopy, focused ion beam (FIB) techniques, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The primary failure mode they have identified is directly related to visible wear on bearing surfaces. In this paper, they describe in detail the characteristics of the failure modes in binary counters. They also compare the failure characteristics with those of an earlier version of the microengine.
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Labs., Electronic Quality/Reliability Center, Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Financial Management and Controller, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-94AL85000
- OSTI ID:
- 291098
- Report Number(s):
- SAND--98-0453C; CONF-980918--; ON: DE99000425; BR: YN0100000
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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