Publications

Piezoresistive Sensing in Micromechanical Resonators

Yorgen H. Anderson
Richard S. Muller
Richard M. White
1993
Over the past several years, there has been much research concerned with building miniature three-dimensional mechanical machines (micromachines) on silicon substrates using fabrication technology from the integrated circuit industry. These micromachines can be useful...

Polycrystalline Silicon-Germanium Contact Resistance Study for Integrated MEMS Technology

Marie-Ange Eyoum
Tsu-Jae King
Roger T. Howe
2003

Co-fabrication of surface micromachined micro-electromechanical devices and control electronics is advantageous for reducing cost and improving performance of microsystems[l]- [8]. With the MEMS and electronic circuits on separate chips, the parasitic capacitance and resistance...

Porous and Epitaxial 3C-SiC Thin Films Technology for Micro-electromechanical Systems and Electronics Applications

Wei-Cheng Lien
Roya Maboudian
David B. Graves
Albert P. Pisano
Tsu-Jae King Liu
2008
Silicon is a widely used semiconductor material because of such factors as its high quality, stable oxide, and low cost. However, silicon-based microdevices are not suitable for harsh environments, such as high temperature, intense vibrations, erosive flows, and corrosive media, because the electric properties of silicon degrades above 250 ̊C and mechanical properties degrades above 600 ̊C. Silicon carbide is a suitable material for harsh...

Piezoelectric Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducers for Fingerprint Sensing

Yipeng Lu
David A. Horsley
Nesrin Sarigul-Klijn
Tingrui Pan
2015
Fingerprint identification is the most prevalent biometric technology due to its uniqueness, universality and convenience. Over the past two decades, a variety of physical mechanisms have been exploited to capture an electronic image of a human fingerprint. Among these, capacitive fingerprint sensors are the ones most widely used in consumer electronics because they are fabricated using conventional complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS)...

Rapid Synthesis of One-Dimensional Nanostructures via Induction Heating

Brian David Sosnowchik
Liwei Lin
Albert P. Pisano
Ming C. Wu
2008
This work presents the development of a platform technology for the rapid synthesis of a wide range of onedimensional nanostructures using induction heating. The technique is fast, enabling the synthesis of nanostructures in as short as one minute, simple, clean, and scalable. The technique is also versatile, enabling the synthesis of nanostructures in bulk or locally on MEMS, and may open up a new class of rapid nanostructure synthesis. The...

Poly-Crystalline Silicon Carbide Passivated Capacitive MEMS Strain Gauge for Harsh Environments

Babak Jamshidi
Albert P. Pisano
Liwei Lin
Kristofer S.J. Pister
2008
This dissertation describes the design and fabrication of a high-resolution capacitive sensor encapsulated in poly-crystalline silicon carbide. This sensor can continuously measure the strain in the substrate under aggressive environments such as extreme ambient temperature, corrosive media and high-g shocks. This strain sensor has a sub-millimeter gauge length capable of precise assessment of strain fields. The device...

Piezoelectric Aluminum Nitride RF Front-End Design for Wireless Communication

Yun-Ju Lai
Albert P. Pisano
Liwei Lin
2008
A micromachined radio frequency bandpass filter comprised by thin film piezoelectric aluminum nitride (AlN) lamb wave resonators for wireless communication channel selection has been developed, fabricated and tested. The AlN lamb wave resonator has a multilayered structure with aluminum interdigital transducer (IDT) on top and bottom of a c-oriented aluminum nitride thin film (Al/AlN/Al). The top and bottom IDTs can excite the lowest-order...

Polysilicon Micromolding of Closed-Flow Passages for the Fabrication of Multifunctional Microneedles

Neil Hamilton Talbot
Albert P. Pisano
Dorian Liepmann
Richard S. Muller
1999

Three aspects of MEMS microneedle technology are developed in this work. First, a new two-wafer polysilicon micromolding process for the fabrication of multifunctional microneedles is developed. Second, microneedle strength is addressed including the investigation of strengthening methods. Lastly, the fluid-flow properties of microneedles are studied analytically and experimentally.

Polysilicon microneedles of smaller size and greater sharpness than stainless steel needles have been fabricated using a two-way polycrystalline silicon (polysilicon) micro molding process called...

Optoelectronic Manipulation, Assembly, and Patterning of Nanoparticles

Arash Jamshidi
Ming C. Wu
Constance Chang-Hasnain
Liwei Lin
2009
The synthesis of nanostructures has advanced in the last decade to a point where a vast range of insulating, semiconducting, and metallic materials are available in a variety of forms and shapes such as wires, tubes, ribbons, sheets, and spheres. These nanostructures display exceptional physical properties that can be used to realize novel devices such as high-speed electronics, efficient photovoltaics and thermoelectrics, sensitive chemical and biological ...

Optofluidic Devices for Cell, Microparticle, and Nanoparticle Manipulation

Aaron Takami Ohta
Ming C. Wu
Constance Chang-Hasnain
Albert P. Pisano
Kevin Healy
2008
Research in the micro- to nanoscale regimes is facilitated by technologies that enable the addressing of these tiny particles. In biological research, manipulation enables the study of single-cell behavior, as well as the sorting of specific target cells from a mixed population. In engineering applications, micro- and nanoparticles can be assembled to form electronic and optoelectronic devices. Several types of forces can be used to manipulate micro- and...