High current low contact resistance platinum-coated CMOS-MEMS probes

We report on high current, low contact resistance, platinum-coated, lever-based CMOS-MEMS electrothermal probes with embedded displacement and force sensors for MEMS Instrumented Self-Configuring Integrated Circuits (MISCICs). The MISCIC vision is to use MEMS conductive probes to reconfigure ICs, mainly RF ICs such as inductors, by mechanically addressing and passing current pulses through resistance change vias which are embedded within chip circuitry. With a platinum-coated conductive tip of 2.6 × 2.6 ¿m² and a contact force of around 20 ¿N, the achieved contact resistance is 0.64 ¿. The tip and its routing path survive after passing a 20 mA DC current for 60 minutes without failure.