Human Body Model, Machine Model, and Charge Device Model ESD testing of surface micromachined microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)

Electrostatic discharge (ESD) and electrical overstress (EOS) damage of surface micromachined Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) were identified as new and harmful failure modes. This failure mode was not addressed previously due to either the proprietary nature of the device or the close resemblance to stiction, another dominant failure mechanism in MEMS. This paper addresses ESD failure mechanisms in MEMS resulting from testing using the Human Body Model (HBM), Machine Model (MM), and Charge Device Model (CDM). Three types of devices were tested to evaluate the effects of spring stiffness and comb finger (actuator) geometry on ESD susceptibility.