Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) have captured the interest of the public with their promise to miniaturize existing systems. Although much of the excitement surrounding MEMS has died down, real applications are beginning to emerge. MEMS accelerometers for games, automotive, and wireless applications have emerged. MEMS inkjet chips are now ubiquitous, and new applications for RF and sensors are in development. One of the most challenging aspects of MEMS is packaging. Forces that normally do not affect meso-scale objects must be understood and controlled at the micro-scale. This has created a number of challenges related to the packaging of these components. MEMS Technology is an online course that offers detailed instruction on the design, processing, packaging, and reliability of MEMS devices. We place special emphasis on DRIE, surface-to-volume ratio issues, electrostatics, liquid wetting, inertia, and other parameters. The course also contains a number of models and simulations used in conjunction with MEMS devices. This course is a must for every manager, engineer, and technician designing MEMS devices, using MEMS components in high performance applications or new packaging configurations, or supplying packaging tools to the industry.
By focusing on the fundamentals of MEMS devices and packaging, participants will learn why advances in the industry are occurring along certain lines and not others. Our instructors work hard to explain MEMS Technologies without delving heavily into the complex physics and materials science that normally accompany this discipline.
Participants learn basic but powerful aspects about these unique devices. This skill-building series is divided into four segments:
- Device Design and Processing. Participants review the basic wafer processing steps for MEMS devices, including deep reactive ion etching, wet etching, patterning, CMP, and more.
- MEMS Packaging. Participants learn the fundamentals of packaging concepts for MEMS devices. They learn about structural release, cleaning, encapsulation, and basic testing. They also discuss the challenges associated with packaging.
- MEMS Reliability. Participants learn MEMS reliability issues and associated analysis and simulation techniques. They also learn about the physics and mechanics issues involved in reliability degradation of MEMS devices.
- The course will provide participants with an in-depth understanding of MEMS and its technical issues.
- Participants will learn the unique processing steps related to MEMS technology, including deep reactive ion etching, non-standard silicon orientation wafers, and special thin-films and coatings for moving components.
- Participants will understand the basic concepts behind thermal and mechanical simulations of MEMS packages.
- The course will identify the key issues related to the success of MEMS packaging. This includes the need for understanding charge, release, and package environments.
- The course offers a wide variety of sample modeling problems that participants work in class to help them gain knowledge of the fundamentals of MEMS packaging.
- Participants will be able to identify basic and advanced principles for mechanical stress, charge, and thermal diffusion.
- Participants will understand how process, release techniques, and packaging are interrelated.
- Participants will be able to make decisions about how to construct and evaluate new MEMS packaging designs and technologies.
- Participants will also be introduced to wafer-level simulations, which are important to MEMS packages.