A General Methodology to Predict the Reliability of Single-Crystal Silicon MEMS Devices

Fitzgerald, Alissa M.; Pierce, David M.; Huigens, B.M.; White, Carolyn D.

doi:10.1109/jmems.2009.2020467

Cited by 25 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 24 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…An on-chip test structure was developed by [120,121] for the fatigue analysis; the experimental arrangements contained an electrostatically driven actuator, sensor, movable mass (responsible of delivering force to the notched beam), and a notched beam. It was demonstrated that large stress reduces the fatigue life cycle.…”

Section: Effects Of Humidity and Temperature On The Reliability Of Memsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reliability and Fatigue Analysis in Cantilever-Based MEMS Devices Operating in Harsh Environments

Jan

Hamid

Khir

et al. 2014

Journal of Quality and Reliability Engineering

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The microelectromechanical system (MEMS) is one of the most diversified fields of microelectronics; it is rated to be the most promising technology of modern engineering. MEMS can sense, actuate, and integrate mechanical and electromechanical components of micro-and nano sizes on a single silicon substrate using microfabrication techniques. MEMS industry is at the verge of transforming the semiconductor world into MEMS universe, apart from other hindrances; the reliability of these devices is the focal point of recent research. Commercialization is highly dependent on the reliability of these devices. MEMS requires a high level of reliability. Several technological factors, operating conditions, and environmental effects influencing the performances of MEMS devices must be completely understood. This study reviews some of the major reliability issues and failure mechanisms. Specifically, the fatigue in MEMS is a major material reliability issue resulting in structural damage, crack growth, and lifetime measurements of MEMS devices in the light of statistical distribution and fatigue implementation of Paris' law for fatigue crack accumulation under the influence of undesirable operating and environmental conditions.

show abstract

Section: Effects Of Humidity and Temperature On The Reliability Of Memsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reliability and Fatigue Analysis in Cantilever-Based MEMS Devices Operating in Harsh Environments

Jan

Hamid

Khir

et al. 2014

Journal of Quality and Reliability Engineering

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Ritchie et al [13] examined the premature fatigue failure of siliconbased micron-scale structures for MEMS, and the fracture properties of mineralized tissue, specifically human bone. Fitzgerald et al [14] described and validated a general methodology to predict the reliability of single-crystal silicon MEMS devices. This methodology used experimental data generated from fracture testing specimens combined with finite element modeling to predict the fracture probability for any MEMS device under any loading.…”

Section: Previous Efforts On Mems Reliabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

On MEMS Reliability and Failure Mechanisms

Fonseca

Sequera

2011

Journal of Quality and Reliability Engineering

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) are a fast-growing field in microelectronics. MEMS are commonly used as actuators and sensors with a wide variety of applications in health care, automotives, and the military. The MEMS production cycle can be classified as three basic steps: (1) design process, (2) manufacturing process, and (3) operating cycle. Several studies have been conducted for steps (1) and (2); however, information regarding operational failure modes in MEMS is lacking. This paper discusses reliability in the context of MEMS functionality. It also presents a brief review of the most relevant failure mechanisms for MEMS.

show abstract

“…In contrast J.-L Le and R. Ballarini to voltage-compensated accelerometers such as those developed by Analog Devices do not operate near the strain limits, some devices are designed to operate at high mechanical power densities and/or large deformation levels, in which the applied stress and strain could reach the strength and strain limits [26]. Therefore, there has been a continuing interest in understanding the reliability of MEMS materials and structures [1,20,22,26,36].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In a notched specimen on the other hand the largest flaw may experience much lower values of stress, or alternatively the region of highest stress may contain relatively small flaws. It is nearly impossible to eliminate processing-induced defects in MEMS devices, which leads to the observed variability of fracture strength of MEMS devices [20,22].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Fig. 1 presents, on the Weibull scale, the experimentally measured strength histograms of MEMS structures made of single-crystal Si [22], hydrogen-free tetrahedral amorphous carbon (ta-C) [20] and poly-Si [40]. Even with a limited number of specimens, it is seen that these histograms cannot be fitted by a straight line on the Weibull scale, which indicates the inadequency of the two-parameter Weibull distribution [16,37].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

A Weakest Link Failure Model of Polycrystalline MEMS Structures

Lee¹,

Ballarini²

2016

Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Fracture Mechanics of Concrete and Concrete Structures

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

MEMS devices typically need to be designed against a very low failure probability, which is beyond the capacity of histogram testing. Therefore, the understanding of the probabilistic failure of MEMS devices is crucial for the design process. Currently available probabilistic models for predicting the strength statistics of MEMS structures are based on classical Weibull statistics. Significant advances in experimental techniques for measuring the strength of MEMS devices have produced data that have unambiguously demonstrated the inadequacy of the Weibull distribution. This paper presents a robust probabilistic model for the strength distribution of polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) MEMS structures. The overall failure probability of the structure is related to the failure probability of each material element along its sidewalls through a weakest-link statistical model. The failure statistics of the material element is determined by both the intrinsic random material strength and the random stress field induced by the sidewall geometry. Different from the classical Weibull statistics, the present model accounts for structures consisting of a finite number of material elements, and it predicts an intricate scale effect on their failure statistics. It is shown that the model agrees well with the measured strength distributions of poly-Si MEMS specimens of different sizes. The present model also explicitly relates the strength distribution to the size effect on the mean structural strength, and therefore provides an efficient means of determining the failure statistics of MEMS structures.

show abstract

A General Methodology to Predict the Reliability of Single-Crystal Silicon MEMS Devices

Cited by 25 publications

References 24 publications

Reliability and Fatigue Analysis in Cantilever-Based MEMS Devices Operating in Harsh Environments

Reliability and Fatigue Analysis in Cantilever-Based MEMS Devices Operating in Harsh Environments

On MEMS Reliability and Failure Mechanisms

A Weakest Link Failure Model of Polycrystalline MEMS Structures

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About