The introduction of deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) technology has greatly expanded the accessible design space for microscopic systems. Structures that are hundreds of micrometers tall with aspect ratios of 40:1, heretofore impossible, can now be achieved. However, this technology is primarily a forming technology, sculpting structures from a substrate. This work seeks to complement deep reactive ion etching by developing an electrical isolation technology to enable electro-mechanical function in these new deep reactive ion etched structures. The objective of the research is twofold. The first is to develop and characterize an electrical isolation technology for DRIE, single crystal silicon (SCS) micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) using temperature gradient zone melting (TGZM) of aluminum junctions for diodic isolation. The second is to demonstrate the utility of this electrical isolation technology in the design, simulation, fabrication, and testing of a MEMS device, i.e. a micro-gyroscope, in such a way that the benefits from junction isolated, deep reactive ion etched, single crystal silicon devices are preserved.

This thesis is devoted to the development of nano-focusing refractive optics for high energy X-rays using planar microelectronic technology. The availability of such optics is the key for the exploitation of high brilliance third and fourth generation X-ray sources. Advancements in the quality of optics available are commensurate with advancements in the fabrication technology. The fabrication process directly influences the quality and performance, so must be understood and controlled. In the first part of this thesis, the development of high aspect ratio Si kinoform lenses is examined. It is shown that control of the re-entrance angle is critical for successful fabrication; in fact, a large re-entrance angle can destroy the lens during the fabrication process. Through an etch study, it was found that as aspect ratio increases, control of the re-entrance angle becomes harder. To control the re-entrance angle for very high aspect ratios, a novel approach based on sacrificial structures was proposed and initial results presented. The second part is dedicated to an experimental study of refractive lenses made from diamond. Due to its low atomic number, relatively high density and very high thermal conductivity, diamond is one of the most desirable lens materials for refractive X-ray optics. However, due to its extreme hardness, it is very difficult to structure into a form suitable for X-ray lenses. To overcome this difficulty a Si moulding technique was used and focusing down to a 400 nm wide spot was achieved. Several obstacles were encountered and successfully overcome. The hardest obstacle was to obtain selective void-free filling in the Si moulds. Several methods were investigated. A method based on a sacrificial oxide layer and an Electrostatic Self-Assembly process was found to be the most useful. The approach discovered in this thesis is not limited to X-ray lenses, but can be applied to a wide variety of high aspect ratio MEMS requiring void-free diamond filling and smooth sidewalls.

This thesis focuses on the use of a design of experiment approach to examine the significance of process factors and interactions on the fabrication of micro- textured surfaces. The micro-textured surfaces examined contain pillar and hole features ranging from 80 – 2 micrometers in diameter. The processes examined are the deep reactive ion etching of silicon wafers for the production of silicon mould inserts and the micro-injection moulding of polypropylene, high density polyethylene and 316LS stainless steel replicate samples of the silicon mould insert. During the deep reactive ion etching of the silicon wafers the design of experiment approach was used to determine the significant of platen power, C4F8 gas flow and switching times to the presence of pillar undercut of 10 x 10, 5 x 5 and 2 x 2 micrometer pillars. Undercuts occur when the pillar base has a smaller cross-section than the apex of the pillar. Switching times was found to be the only statistically significant parameter for both 10 x 10 and 5 x 5 micrometer pillars. The design of experiment approach is used in the micro-injection moulding of polypropylene, high density polyethylene and 316LS stainless steel replicates to examine the significance of mould temperature, cooling time, holding pressure and injection speed on the part and buffer mass of the produce samples, the height and width of pillar on the replicate surfaces and the variation of the replicated pillars height and width from the original silicon mould insert. Examination of the high density polyethylene replicates found that mould temperature was the most significant factor regarding pillar dimensions (and variation from the silicon mould insert) across the range of pillar sizes. Upon examination of the polypropylene replicates it was found that the factor of most significance on pillar dimensions varied across the different pillar sizes. Holding pressure was identified as the most significant factor with regards to the 53 x 29 and 19 x 80 micrometer pillars. Injection speed was found to be most significant for the 25 x 25 and 19 x 29 micrometer pillars. Cooling time was found to be most significant with regards to the 30 x 10, 25 x 10, 20 x 10 and 15 x 10 micrometer pillars. While ii mould temperature was found to be most significant for the 20 x 20, 15 x 15 and 10 x 30 micrometer pillars. The interaction between mould temperature and injection speed was also found to be the most significant factor with regards to the 43 x 29 and 25 x 30 micrometer pillars. Examination of the 316LS replicates found that mould temperature was the most significant factor regarding pillar dimensions for 80 x 80 and 19 x 80 micrometer pillars. While holding pressure was found to be most significant to the 29 x 29 micrometer pillars and injection speed was identified as most significant to the 53 x 80 micrometer pillars. The samples produced during the design of experiment investigations were then used to examine the effect of surface texturing on droplet behaviour. Droplet contact angles were examined on polypropylene, high density polyethylene and silicon samples structured with 10 – 2 micrometer pillar. Initial droplet contact angles were found to be higher on the polypropylene samples than the high density polyethylene or silicon samples. With the lowest initial contact angles being found for the silicon inserts. Droplet ‘channelling’ and evaporation were examined on silicon, polypropylene, high density polyethylene and 316LS samples structured with micro-channel surface pillars and holes ranging from 80 – 2 micrometer in diameter. Contact pinning of the droplet to the surface via the three- phase contact-line was noted during observations of droplet ‘channelling’. This pinning effect was observed at all sample tilt angles (30 - 90 o ). With regards to droplet evaporation, the droplets were noted to evaporate evenly (with no or limited contact pinning) on all unstructured surfaces and the surfaces structured with hole features. On the surfaces structured with pillar features, the droplets appeared too evaporated along the surface gradient from the smallest pillars to the largest.

This PhD dissertation reports the development of miniature ion optics components of a mass spectrometer (MS) with the ultimate goal to lay the foundation for a compact low-power micromachined MS (µMS) for broad-range chemical analysis. Miniaturization of two specific components a) RF ion traps and b) an ion funnel have been investigated and miniature low-power versions of these components have been developed and demonstrated successfully in lab experiments. Power savings, simpler electronics and packaging schemes required to operate the micro-scale RF cylindrical ion traps have been the key motivation driving this research. Microfabricated cylindrical ion traps (µCITs) and arrays in silicon, silicon-on-insulator and stainless steel substrates have been demonstrated and average power of as low as 55 mW for a low mass range (28 to 136 amu) and mass spectra with better than a unit-mass-resolution have been recorded. For the ion funnel miniaturization effort, simple assembly, small form factor and ease of integration have been emphasized. A simplification of the conventional 3D ion funnel design, called the planar ion funnel, has been developed in a single plate and has been tested to demonstrate ion funneling at medium vacuum levels (1E-5 Torr) using DC voltages and power less than 0.5 W. Miniaturization of these components also enables use of other novel ion optics components, packaging and integration, which will allow a new class of µMS architectures amenable for radical miniaturization.

No description available.

This thesis presents the optimization of deep reactive ion etching process (DRIE) to achieve high precision 3-dimensional integrated micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS) sensors with high aspect ratio structures. Two optimization processes have been performed to achieve 20 &amp / #956 / m depth for 1 &amp / #956 / m opening for a dissolved wafer process (DWP) and to achieve 100 &amp / #956 / m depth for 1 &amp / #956 / m opening for silicon-on-glass (SOG) process. A number of parameters affecting the etch rate and profile angle are investigated, including the step times, etch step pressure, platen power, and electrode temperature. Silicon etch samples are prepared and processed in METU-MET facilities to understand and optimize the DRIE process parameters that can be used for the production of MEMS gyroscopes and accelerometers. The etch samples for DWP are masked using a photoresist, Shipley S1813. After the optimization process, vertical trench profiles are achieved with minimum critical dimension loss for trench depths up to 20 &amp / #956 / m. Since the selectivity of the resist is not sufficient for 100 &amp / #956 / m deep trench etch process, silicon dioxide (SiO2) is used as the mask for this process. At the end of the optimization processes, more than 100 &amp / #956 / m depth for 1 &amp / #956 / m opening with almost vertical sidewalls are achieved. In summary, this study provides an extensive understanding of the DRIE process for successful implementations of integrated MEMS sensors.

No description available.

In this work, new small deflection magnetic actuators have been proposed, designed, and tested for applications in Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering optical sensors. Despite the fact that SERS sensors have been shown to increase Raman over ten orders of magnitude for molecular detection, several technological challenges have prevented the design of practical sensors, such as making SERS sensors that can efficiently detect a wide variety of molecules. Since the optimum signal-to-noise in SERS occurs at different excitation wavelengths for different molecules, individual metal nanostructures need to be designed and fabricated for each independent chemical species. One possible solution to this problem is to tune the plasmon resonance frequency of the metal nanoparticles to eliminate the need for individually optimized particles. In order to achieve a tunable local dielectric environment, and thus allow for control over the resonance frequency of metal nanoparticles, a new SERS sensor geometry is proposed and a large deflection magnetic actuator is fabricated and tested as a starting point for the design of a small deflection magnetic actuator. Using the newly developed SERS geometry and the optimized fabrication processing techniques, two small deflection magnetic actuator beam structures were designed, fabricated, and tested. These devices utilizes an off-chip electromagnet source able to produce a magnetic force of approximately 14 μN on the on-chip nickel film generating deflections up to 139 nm for the straight beam device and 164 nm for the curved beam device. iii In the process of characterizing the newly developed small deflection magnetic actuator, an integrated magnetic actuator with electrostatic restoration geometry was conceived. This device was designed to meet the specifications of the small deflection magnetic actuator as well as eliminate the need of an off-chip magnetic source and fully integrate the process atop the metal nanoparticle arrays. Using adhesive iron based magnetic strips as the magnetic drive source, circular NiFe beams with 1, 2, 3, and 4 mm diameters were designed and simulated. Calculations predicted maximum achievable actuation of up to 2.5 μm. Processing steps were laid out for a set of integrated devices as a possible predecessor to the newly designed small deflection magnetic actuator.

This study concentrates on two of the main processes involved in the fabrication of electrostatic valve assembly, thick resist photolithography and wet chemical etching of a polyamide film. The electrostatic valve has different orifice diameters of 25, 50, 75 and 100 µm. These orifice holes are to be etched in the silicon wafer with deep reactive ion etching. The photolithography process is developed to build a mask of 15 µm thick resist pattern on silicon wafer. This photo layer acts as a mask for deep reactive ion etching. Wet chemical etching process is developed to etch kapton polyamide film. This etched film is used as a stand off, gap between two electrodes of the electrostatic valve assembly. The criterion is to develop the processed using standard industry tools. Pre post etch effects, such as, surface roughness, etching pattern, critical dimensions on the samples are measured with Veeco profilometer.

Die vorliegende Arbeit beschreibt einen neuartigen Ablauf zur Herstellung eines Vibrationssensors auf Waferebene. Die Besonderheit des Sensors liegt in der Reduktion des Spaltmaßes der kapazitiven Elektroden im Anschluss an die Strukturerzeugung. Dies gelingt unter Nutzung des Mikroschweißprozess von Siliziumelementen. Hierbei sieht die innovative Fertigungstechnologie eine Strukturhöhe von 100 μm vor. Zusätzlich wird die Erarbeitung einer Struktur für die Durchführung eines Mikrozugversuchs auf Waferebene beschrieben. Dieser dient der Bestimmung der maximal ertragbaren Zugkraft mikromechanischer Schweißverbindungen und ermöglicht die fertigungsbegleitende Prozesskontrolle. Auf Basis der Messwerte lassen sich Rückschlüsse auf die Geometrie der Schweißstruktur ableiten als auch ein zerstörungsfreies Modell für die Vorhersage der Verbindungsfestigkeit entwickeln. Die Ergebnisbewertung umfasst die qualitative als auch quantitative Charakterisierung der Mikroschweißverbindung sowie die Bewertung des Vibrationssensors in Form eines Funktionsdemonstrators. / The Ph.D. thesis focuses on a novel approach for the fabrication of a MEMS accelerometer on wafer level. The technology relies on the micro welding process of silicon, which is utilized for fixing one component of the capacitive electrode system at a deflected position. Consequently, the gap width of the variable capacitor is reduced below 1 µm for a structure height of 100 µm. The silicon micro welding process is reviewed and investigated. By utilizing a micro tensile test, the maximum bearable load is deduced for different welding geometries. Following these results, a model for predicting the strength of the micro welding site is introduced, allowing for non destructive process monitoring. Finally, the characteristics of the MEMS accelerometer are measured on wafer level and chip level after hermetic packaging respectively.