TY - JOUR
T1 - In situ characterization of induced stiction in a MEMS
AU - Yu, Tao
AU - Ranganathan, Ranjith
AU - Johnson, Nick
AU - Yadav, Naveen
AU - Gale, Richard
AU - Dallas, Tim
N1 - Funding Information:
Manuscript received June 9, 2005; revised February 16, 2006. The authors would like to thank the National Science Foundation (ECS #0326218) and the J. F. Maddox Endowment at Texas Tech University for supporting this work. Subject Editor G. K. Fedder.
PY - 2007/4
Y1 - 2007/4
N2 - Stiction remains a limiting factor in the performance and lifetime of MEMS devices. We have developed experimental tools for inducing and quantifying changes in stiction on a large array of MEMS actuators. Thousands of elements were subjected to aggressive wear in order to produce shearing forces that contributed to the degradation of contacting surfaces. Custom electronics were developed to accomplish nonstandard actuation of the MEMS array. Optical techniques were used to characterize the induction of and progression of stiction. A model incorporating experimental and geometrical values was used to determine stiction force as a function of actuation duration and packaging. For a depackaged array, an increase in stiction force of ∼230 nN (per element) was induced through three days of high-speed actuation.
AB - Stiction remains a limiting factor in the performance and lifetime of MEMS devices. We have developed experimental tools for inducing and quantifying changes in stiction on a large array of MEMS actuators. Thousands of elements were subjected to aggressive wear in order to produce shearing forces that contributed to the degradation of contacting surfaces. Custom electronics were developed to accomplish nonstandard actuation of the MEMS array. Optical techniques were used to characterize the induction of and progression of stiction. A model incorporating experimental and geometrical values was used to determine stiction force as a function of actuation duration and packaging. For a depackaged array, an increase in stiction force of ∼230 nN (per element) was induced through three days of high-speed actuation.
KW - Electrostatic actuation
KW - Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)
KW - Stiction
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=34147100656&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1109/JMEMS.2007.893061
DO - 10.1109/JMEMS.2007.893061
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:34147100656
SN - 1057-7157
VL - 16
SP - 355
EP - 364
JO - Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems
JF - Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems
IS - 2
ER -