In-situ Vapor-Phase Lubrication of MEMS

Asay, David B.; Dugger, Michael Thomas; Kim, Seong H.

doi:10.1007/s11249-007-9283-0

Cited by 103 publications

(110 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Vapor phase lubrication of silicon oxide surfaces has been shown to be effective and reliable on the macro to the nano-scales [214,215]. Pentanol vapor lubrication completely prevented failure of MEMS devices; as Fig.…”

Section: Vapor Phase Lubrication Of Mems Devicesmentioning

confidence: 98%

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Vapors in the ambient—A complication in tribological studies or an engineering solution of tribological problems?

et al. 2015

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Tribology involves not only two-body contacts of two solid materials-a substrate and a counter-surface; it often involves three-body contacts whether the third body is intentionally introduced or inevitably added during the sliding or rubbing. The intentionally added third body could be lubricant oil or engineered nanomaterial used to mitigate the friction and wear of the sliding contact. The inevitably added third body could be wear debris created from the substrate or the counter surface during sliding. Even in the absence of any solid third-body between the sliding surfaces, molecular adsorption of water or organic vapors from the surrounding environment can dramatically alter the friction and wear behavior of solid surfaces tested in the absence of lubricant oils. This review article covers the last case: the effects of molecular adsorption on sliding solid surfaces both inevitably occurring due to the ambient test and intentionally introduced as a solution for engineering problems. We will review how adsorbed molecules can change the course of wear and friction, as well as the mechanical and chemical behavior, of a wide range of materials under sliding conditions.

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Section: Vapor Phase Lubrication Of Mems Devicesmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…It has also been shown that pentanol adsorption on MEMS devices does not result in stiction problem due to capillary forces [214]. This is because the increase in adhesion is modest and does not interrupt the operation of the MEMS device.…”

Section: Vapor Phase Lubrication Of Mems Devicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vapors in the ambient—A complication in tribological studies or an engineering solution of tribological problems?

et al. 2015

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“…The differences between adhesive and corrosive wear allow us to explain the benefits of vapor-phase lubrication [12] for tribo-MEMS, where an alcohol (ethanol, propanol, pentanol, etc.) is vaporized to passivate rubbing surfaces.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Perfluorodecanoic acid vapor has been used for protecting aluminum protrusion in the Digital Micromirror Device TM [11], and 1-pentanol vapor has been shown to be effective in prolonging the lifetime of the silicon micro-tribotester fabricated by Sandia National Laboratory [12]. To develop new applications of MEMS, an understanding of wear mechanisms at microscales becomes particularly important.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adhesive and corrosive wear at microscales in different vapor environments

Shen

Meng

2013

Friction

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Adhesive and corrosive wear at microscales are quantitatively distinguished in lifetime tests of resonant bulk-fabricated silicon microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). By analyzing the oscillation decay characteristics in different vapor environments, we find that wear is dominated by asperity adhesion during the initial stages of rubbing in dry N 2 or O 2 /N 2 mixtures; in these situations the transient wear rate is inversely proportional to the wear depth. But in water or ethanol vapors, chemical reactions between the corrosive adsorbed layer and the silicon substrate limit the wear rate to a constant. These observations are consistent with atomic explanations. The differences between adhesive and corrosive wear explain the advantages offered by lubricating with alcohol vapors rather than using dry environments for tribo-MEMS devices. Compared to ethanol, the relatively poor anti-wear effect of water vapor is explained by aggressive and rapid tribo-reactions.

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“…Coatings such as DLC have shown some success [4] but are also unable to resist prolonged sliding. Vapour phase lubrication, whereby an alcoholic vapour is used to form a self-replenishing film on the sliding surfaces [5], has also been suggested. This is effective at reducing wear but requires hermetic sealing and shows higher friction than when liquid lubricants are used [6].…”

Section: Mems Lubricationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Confining Liquids on Silicon Surfaces to Lubricate MEMS

et al. 2015

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Liquid lubrication may provide a solution to the problem of high friction and wear in micro-electromechanical systems. Although the effectiveness of this approach has been demonstrated in laboratory-based friction tests, practical constraints prevent it from being applied in commercial devices. The main problem is how to position the lubricant on a silicon surface in order to limit spreading and evaporation. This paper describes two techniques to address this issue. First, low concentrations of additives are used to promote autophobic behaviour. Tests' results show that certain concentrations of both multiply alkylated cyclopentane and amine additives are effective in halting the spread of hexadecane on silicon, and, in the latter case, cause the hexadecane drop to subsequently retract. The second approach involves applying a micro-contact printing technique previously used on gold surfaces. Here, silicon surfaces are coated with octadecyltrichlorosilane mono-layers that are then selectively removed, using oxygen plasma, to leave regions of contrasting surface energy. Results from spin tests show that surfaces treated in this way can anchor 1 ll drops of hexadecane and water when forces of up to 22 and 230 lN, respectively, are applied.

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In-situ Vapor-Phase Lubrication of MEMS

Cited by 103 publications

References 21 publications

Vapors in the ambient—A complication in tribological studies or an engineering solution of tribological problems?

Vapors in the ambient—A complication in tribological studies or an engineering solution of tribological problems?

Adhesive and corrosive wear at microscales in different vapor environments

Confining Liquids on Silicon Surfaces to Lubricate MEMS

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