Title :
Suppression of wear in cyclically loaded polycrystalline silicon MEMS via a thin silicon carbide coating
Author :
Laboriante, I. ; Klejwa, N. ; Suwandi, A. ; Carraro, C. ; Howe, Roger T. ; Maboudian, R.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Chem. & Biomol. Eng., Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
Abstract :
The surfaces of a microfabricated polysilicon test structure, designed to measure adhesion forces in MEMS, were modified with a thin (~50 nm) silicon carbide coating to take advantage of the outstanding tribological, electrical, and chemical properties of polycrystalline SiC (polySiC). Adhesion forces in polySiC-coated interfaces as a function of apparent area of contact have been determined quantitatively and compared to those in uncoated polycrystalline silicon (polySi) contacts. A detailed study of changes in physico-chemical surface properties after >;100 billion contact cycles is also presented, highlighting suppression of wear upon SiC coating.
Keywords :
amorphous semiconductors; coatings; crystallisation; microfabrication; silicon; wear testing; MEMS; Si; adhesion forces; microfabrication; physico-chemical surface properties; polycrystalline silicon; polysilicon test; thin silicon carbide coating; wear suppression; Adhesives; Contacts; Micromechanical devices; Silicon; Silicon carbide; Surface morphology; Surface roughness; MEMS; polycrystalline silicon; silicon carbide; solid lubrication; stiction; wear resistance;
Conference_Titel :
Solid-State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems Conference (TRANSDUCERS), 2011 16th International
Conference_Location :
Beijing
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4577-0157-3
DOI :
10.1109/TRANSDUCERS.2011.5969544
