Research:
|
Objective Research and development
of Organic Polymer-based Micro-electro-mechanical Systems (MEMS) and Microsystems
using low-cost manufacturing techniques such as printed circuit processing
techniques, inkjet printing, electroplating, etc. The advantages of Organic
Polymer MEMS technology include low-cost, ease of integration with
electronics, suitability for high-volume manufacturing and large-area
applications.
MEMS
Laboratory (Broun 468): Micromanipulator 8060 Probe Station, Agilent
4287A RF LCR meter (3 GHz) , Dimatix Materials Printer (DMP-2800 Series),
LPKF S62 Protomat Circuit Board Plotter, Agilent Power Supplies, Four Point
Multimeters etc. Alabama Microelectronics Science and
Technology Center: E-beam evaporator with ion gun, plasma reactive
ion etcher, Applied Materials 8110 oxide etcher, Matrix 103 asher, Matrix 303
etcher, Karl Suss contact mask aligner, Wet benches, Thermco oxidation and
diffusion furnaces, Tempress LPCVD system, Plasma Therm PD2411 PECVD system,
Nickel plating, STS Multiplex System DRIE processing. MEMS
Fabrication, Assembly, and Packaging Facilities: Extensive facilities for
fabrication, assembly, packaging and environmental evaluation of electronics
and MEMS. |
|
|
Research Projects |
|
|
Polymer MEMS-based Electronically
Scanned Antenna Array Graduate Researcher:
Ananth Sundaram In this project,
monolithic integration of MEMS phase shifters with antennas on duroid
substrate was demonstrated for Electronically Scanned Array (ESA)
applications. A MEMS-based ESA prototype with beam steering of up to 20° at
9.1 GHz was demonstrated. The ESA developed here is suitable for fabrication
of low cost, large area MEMS-based ESAs on Teflon or Polyimide like low
dielectric constant printed circuit board (PCB) substrates. |
|
|
Polymer/PCB MEMS-based Tunable Coplanar
Patch Antenna Graduate Researcher: In this project, a tunable
coplanar rectangular patch antenna (CPA) designed using a MEMS varactor has been
developed. The MEMS varactor is monolithically integrated with the antenna on
duroid substrate using printed circuit processing techniques. The CPA is
center fed at the second radiating edge using a 50 Ω CPW feed line. The
CPA operates in the frequency range from 5.185 to 5.545 GHz corresponding to
the down and up states of the varactor. The tunable frequency range is about
360 MHz and the return loss is better than 40 dB in the entire tuning range.
In this tuning range, the required dc voltage is in the range of 110-116 V. This project is sponsored by Motorola Labs, |
|
|
MEMS Relay Reliability Study Graduate Researcher: In this project, the
reliability of electrostatically actuated ohmic contact type MEMS relay was
investigated. The MEMS relays were fabricated using MetalMUMPs process, which
uses 20 μm thick electroplated Nickel as the structural layer. The
‘resistance versus voltage’ characteristics were measured for the Nickel MEMS
relay. Dehydration experiments have been performed to study stiction caused
by humidity. Reliability of the relay was tested up to one million actuation
cycles and the resistance degradation with actuation was investigated. The experiments show that the contact
resistance of the relay with gold contacts initially decreases as the contact
surfaces wear out to become smooth conformal surfaces. It was observed that
the contact resistance of the gold contact begins to degrade drastically
above 10,000 actuation cycles. This project was done in collaboration with |
|
|
Organic Polymer MEMS Capacitive Pressure
Sensor A MEMS capacitive pressure
sensor array was developed using low cost printed circuit processing
techniques. These pressure sensors are suitable for integration with
system-on-package (SOP) type Microsystems fabricated using low-cost Multichip
Module Laminate (MCM-L) technologies. An example pressure sensor with a
diaphragm radius of 1.6 mm provides a total capacitance change of 0.277 pF
for an applied pressure in the range of 0-100 kPa. |
|
|
Polymer MEMS Tunable Antenna In this project, an inexpensive
tunable antenna fabricated using PCB processing techniques was demonstrated.
A MEMS based tunable circular patch antenna was demonstrated. A 6 mm diameter
circular microstrip patch antenna tunable from 16.91 GHz at 0 V to 16.64 GHz
at 165 V was demonstrated. This tunable antenna is suitable for
implementation of low cost and low profile RF front end, tunable antenna
arrays, and tunable reflectarrays. |
|
|
Polymer MEMS Accelerometer Graduate
Researchers: In this project, a MEMS
capacitive-type Accelerometer fabricated using printed circuit processing
techniques was developed. A Kapton polymide film is used as the structural
layer for fabricating the MEMS Accelerometer. The accelerometer proof mass
along with four suspension beams are defined in the Kapton polyimide film.
The proof mass is suspended above a Teflon substrate using a spacer. The
deflection of the proof mass is detected using a pair of capacitive sensing
electrodes. An example PCB MEMS Accelerometer with a square proof mass of
membrane area 6.4 mm × 6.4 mm was developed. The measured resonant frequency
of 375 Hz and the Q-factor in air is 1.5. |
|
