Technology Development for MEMS: A Tutorial

Abstract

Silicon sensors date back to before 1960 with early Hall and piezoresistive devices. These used simple processing that was part of the early integrated circuit (IC) industry. As the IC industry developed, silicon sensors could benefit from the technological advances. As silicon sensors advanced, there came the need for new technologies specifically for microsystems. This led to a range of 3-D structures using micromachining and enabled the development of both sensors and actuators. The integration of sensors with electronics on a single chip also presented new challenges to ensure that both sensor and electronics would function correctly at the end of the processing. In recent years many new technologies and new materials were introduced to enhance the functionality of microsystems. Some sensors are still based on silicon, but others introduce new materials such as carbon nanotubes and graphene. Technologies that have been used in other applications for many years are now integral part of the microsystem technology portfolio. These include screen printing and inkjet printing. Moving more into the third dimension, 3-D printing presents many new opportunities to fabricate novel structures on a silicon substrate. This tutorial focuses on the additional technologies which have been developed to supplement standard IC processes to create MEMS structures.

Advanced Materials and Sensors for Microphysiological Systems: Focus on Electronic and Electrooptical Interfaces

“…As a further advancement of electrochemical detection of ion concentration in cell culture media, Aydogmus et al [ 117 ] developed an ultracompact FET‐based electrochemical sensor for label‐free and in situ real‐time measurement within an OoC device. This sensor eliminates an external reference electrode requirement by adjusting the FET threshold voltage via a capacitive control gate, which is critical in typical electrochemical sensing.…”

Inductive XY calibration method for multi-material fused filament fabrication 3D printers

“…However sensing and many other functions do require a multi-material fabrication process. One printing technique that relatively easily can be converted to incorporate multiple-materials is fused filament fabrication [3,4], which is also known under the trademarked acronym fused deposition modeling. However, the functionality of multi-material prints may be hampered by poor alignment of the nozzles in the 𝑥 and 𝑦 direction, as this will cause unintended overlap or separation of prints of dissimilar materials, which may well affect the mechanical, electrical and/or other properties of the materials [5].…”

Flexible Gripper, Design and Control for Soft Robotics

“…In the field of robotics, many new technologies and materials have been introduced to improve robot functionality; in recent years, these include 3-D printing as an opportunity to fabricate novel structures, as mentioned in [1]. The development of robotic structures as actuators is of great interest, as evidenced by the work developed in [2] [3] and [4], to name a few.…”