Influence of micromachining on dynamic behaviour of mems structures

The field of microsystems technology, comprising both micromechanical and microelectronics components, has a tremendous potential for sensing, actuation and machines at the micro level of matter in almost every field of interest to humanity, from DNA sequencing to information and communication systems. The success of microdevices depends on the effectiveness of the design synthesis in incorporating the influences of structural geometry, micromachining, microfabrication and operating environment. This paper presents and applies the concept of boundary conditioning in order to quantify the influence of micromachining on the behaviour of microstructures. An example of a device fabricated through a multi-user microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) processes (MUMPs) process is also discussed in detail.