Adhesion release and yield enhancement of microstructures using pulsed Lorentz forces

Author

Gogoi, Bishnu P. ; Mastrangelo, Carlos H.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. Eng. & Comput. Sci., Michigan Univ., Ann Arbor, MI, USA

Volume

4

Issue

4

fYear

1995

fDate

12/1/1995 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

185

Lastpage

192

Abstract

Adhesion of microstructures is an important failure mechanism in surface-micromachined devices. In this paper, a simple and effective method for releasing pinned microstructures is presented. The method uses the Lorentz force due to the interaction of a current with an external magnetic field to generate an upward force that frees the microstructures. The static and transient behavior of beams under the Lorentz force is examined. Critical values of current and pulse durations needed to release the microstructures are determined and verified with experimental data. Using this technique, previously pinned beams and rectangular plates have been released. The release technique is suitable for mass production environments since it is easily applied during the electrical testing of the device, thereby increasing the manufacturing yield

Keywords

circuit optimisation; elemental semiconductors; failure analysis; integrated circuit yield; micromachining; microsensors; semiconductor device testing; silicon; transient analysis; Si; adhesion release; electrical testing; external magnetic field; failure mechanism; manufacturing yield; mass production environments; microsensors; pinned microstructure release; pulse durations; pulsed Lorentz forces; rectangular plates; static behavior; surface-micromachined devices; transient behavior; yield enhancement; Adhesives; Fabrication; Failure analysis; Lorentz covariance; Magnetic fields; Manufacturing; Mass production; Microstructure; Testing; Wire;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Microelectromechanical Systems, Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1057-7157

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/84.475545

Filename

475545