Albert P. Pisano (Advisor)

APP66: Piezoelectric MEMS for Resonator Applications

Andrew S. Cardes
Philip J. Stephanou
2006

The goal of this project is to develop piezoelectric aluminum nitride (AlN) MEMS resonators for frequency reference and bandpass filtering applications to enable novel, highly-integrated radio front ends. The demand for highly-integrated analog filtering and frequency reference elements has spurred rapid innovation in the area of vibrating RF MEMS. To date however, no single technology has emerged that can simultaneously deliver monolithic, post-CMOS integration of intermediate frequency (IF) and radio frequency (RF) components that can readily interface with 50 Ohm RF systems....

APP58: Nano-Gap Piezoelectric Resonators for RF Mechanical Magnetic Field Generation

Carolyn White
2006

An integrated, nano mechanically-regulated atomic clock has been proposed to reduce the size, mass, and power consumption and enable use on portable platforms. This project focuses on the development of nano-gap piezoelectric resonators for RF mechanical magnetic field generation.

Project end date: 01/24/07

APP77: MEMS Strain Gauge on Steel: Elastic Encapsulation

Robert G. Azevedo
2006

The MEMS strain gauge on steel project aims to design a MEMS strain gauge that can be bonded directly to steel and accurately measure strain in small strain fields (gauge length of 1 mm or less). Encapsulation of the MEMS strain gauge, in contrast to microelectronics or inertial force sensor packaging, requires that the package be a mechanical transducer of the measurand to the sense elements. To meet the objective of hermetic, minimally-aliasing encapsulation of the strain gauge, we propose an elastic, wafer-level solution.

Project end date: 01/26/07

APP83: MEMS Strain Gauge on Steel - Miniaturization of Transduction Circuits

Anand Jog
David Myers
2007

The Research and Development proposed herein will improve the operating characteristics of traditional machine elements and the applications to which they contribute through the development and application of MEMS microstructures in two major categories. First, we will develop low-cost MEMS strain-sensing modules and the means to rapidly bond them to steel and other structures in large quantities. In addition to wire-based solutions, we will also develop modules for wireless data telemetry and power coupling to enable total systems-level solutions for the MEMS sensor modules. This...

LWL24: Rapid Bonding of MEMS Strain Gauge to Steel

Brian D. Sosnowchik
Ko-Min Liao
2007

A rapid and reliable bonding method is needed to bond MEMS strain gauges to steel. The MEMS strain gauge is to be bonded to the manufactured steel after all other steel treatment steps have been completed; hence the bonding method must be kept at low temperature to prevent any thermal damage to the steel composition. In addition, the bonding method must not introduce high residual strains, which would cause error in strain gauge measurements. The strain gauge to steel bond must also have the ability to survive several years in a wide working temperature range (-60oC to 150oC) in an...

BPN306: SiC TAPS: Ion Beam Assisted Deposition (IBAD) Encapsulation

Debbie G. Jones
2007

The goal of this project is to develop a low temperature, wafer-level vacuum encapsulation technique for harsh environment, silicon carbide (SiC) sensors.

Project end date: 08/07/07

APP56/OO: Thermally-induced residual stresses in MEMS sensors

Bayram Orazov
2007

In the course of eutectically bonding MEMS sensors to a substrate, residual thermal stresses can be induced in the sensor. These stresses have the potential to bias sensor signals, damage encapsulation and alter the operational range of the device. Using thermo- mechanical analyses, the goal of this work is to characterize the residual stresses and seek ways to ameliorate their effects on sensor packaging and operation.

Project end date: 08/14/07

BPN389: SiC TAPS: Characterization of Silicon Carbide Ion Beam Assisted Deposition (IBAD) Films

Matt Chan
2007

Silicon Carbide (SiC) is an appealing material for harsh environment MEMS applications. It can be sputtered at low temperatures by an Ion-Beam Assisted Deposition (IBAD) system to produce amorphous thin-films and vacuum encapsulations. The goal of this project is to investigate the stress-temperature relation of these amorphous SiC films in order to calculate their biaxial moduli and coefficients of thermal expansion. The “double-substrate technique” is employed to compare the differences in these properties for films that are sputtered both with and without ion-beam assistance...

BPN323: MEMS Biopolymer: Bubble Time-of-Flight Flow Sensor

Julian Lippmann
2007

Liquid flow monitoring at nanoliter/min rates is important for many lab-on-a-chip and stand alone biomedical applications. Several technologies have been investigated to achieve this resolution. The majority require expensive detection systems and fabrication processes. To this end we have developed an injection molded fluidic flow sensor that requires no part-to-part micromachining of silicon, significantly reducing the cost. Further, many of these systems require extensive calibration and rely on phenomena impacted by diffusion (e.g. heat pulses) that quickly lose accuracy as flow...

APP80: Micro Plastic Injection Molding: Microneedle Molding

Julian Lippmann
2007

This project along with APP79 investigates the manufacturing and integration of um scale plastic parts through injection molding. Emphasis is placed on developing robust, but simple fabrication methods capable of molding microneedles 100um X 100um hollow tubes. The issues to be addressed span the micro and meso regimes. At the microscale effort focuses on creating accurate, robust molds that can deliver MEMS scale needles. On the mesoscale, Plastic injection materials and processes are being investigated to yield optimum results.

Project end date: 01/23/08