Self-assembly of MEMS components in air assisted by diaphragm agitation

Author

Liang, Shena-Hsiuna ; Wang, Kerwin ; Böhringer, Karl E.

Author_Institution

Washington Univ., Seattle, WA, USA

fYear

2005

fDate

30 Jan.-3 Feb. 2005

Firstpage

592

Lastpage

595

Abstract

We present a fast and high yield self assembly process in air for submillimeter components, including released MEMS chips. Components are agitated on a vibrating diaphragm and captured on a substrate with downward facing binding sites. Low drag force in air, high capillary force at the air/liquid interface, and fast recycling of components contribute to high performance. In addition, we investigate the quantitative relationship between process parameters and assembly performance. Energy transfer from agitation source to components is measured and characterized; yield ratios and self-correcting processes for various applied energies are obtained from experimental results. The assembly rate and yield ratio are controlled by the driving signal and reach up to 0.125 components/sec-site and 93%, respectively. The process has been applied successfully to the assembly of MEMS chips with released comb drives.

Keywords

diaphragms; micromechanical devices; self-assembly; substrates; MEMS chips; air-liquid interface; binding sites; comb drives; diaphragm agitation; energy transfer; fast recycling components; self assembly process; self correcting process; submillimeter components; yield ratio; Assembly; Drag; Energy measurement; Glass; Micromechanical devices; Recycling; Self-assembly; Signal generators; Substrates; Surface tension;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Micro Electro Mechanical Systems, 2005. MEMS 2005. 18th IEEE International Conference on

ISSN

1084-6999

Print_ISBN

0-7803-8732-5

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/MEMSYS.2005.1453999

Filename

1453999