The Bistable Aerial Platform (BAP) has been developed in order to further enlarge the repertoire of devices available at the microscale. This novel device functions as a switch in that its platform can lock in two positions, up or down. Herein, it will be examined and explained, but a true understanding of its workings requires a better understanding of its compliant constituent parts. The Helico-Kinematic Platform (HKP), which serves as an actuator for the BAP, is currently under investigation by another researcher and will be merely touched upon here. The focus, therefore, will rest on the analysis of the Quadrantal Bistable Mechanism (QBM), the principle component of the BAP. A preliminary pseudo-rigid-body model, an aid for the understanding of compliant mechanisms, will also be examined for the QBM. The models developed for these two devices, the HKP and QBM, can later be combined to form a full model of the Bistable Aerial Platform.

This thesis reports the development of advanced readout and control electronics for MEMS gyroscopes developed at METU. These gyroscope electronics are separated into three main groups: high sensitive interface circuits, drive mode amplitude controlled self oscillation loops, and sense mode phase sensitive amplitude demodulators. The proposed circuits are first implemented with discrete components, and then integrated on CMOS chips. A self oscillation loop enabling constant amplitude drive mode vibrations independent of sensor parameters and ambient conditions is developed. A fully functional angular rate system, which is constructed by employing this advanced control electronics together with the transresistance amplifier type interfaces and sense mode electronics, is implemented on a dedicated PCB having 5.4x2.4 cm2 area. This system demonstrates an impressive performance far better than the best performance achieved by any angular rate system developed at METU. Bias instability and angle random walk values are measured as 14.3 &ordm / /hr and 0.126 &ordm / /&amp / #8730 / hr, respectively. The scale factor of the system is found as 22.2 mV/(&ordm / /sec) with a nonlinearity of 0.01%, and a zero rate output of 0.1 &ordm / /sec, in &plusmn / 50 &ordm / /sec measurement range. CMOS unity gain buffer (UGB) and transimpedance amplifier (TIA) type resistive and capacitive interfaces are characterized through AC, transient, and noise tests. It is observed that on chip biasing mechanisms properly DC-bias the high impedance nodes to 0 V potential. UGB type capacitive interfaces demonstrate superior performance than TIA counterparts due to stability problems associated with TIA interfaces. CMOS differential drive mode control and sense mode demodulation electronics give promising results for the future performance tests.

This thesis reports the development of various high performance readout and control electronics for implementing angular rate sensing systems using MEMS gyroscopes developed at METU. First, three systems with open loop sensing mechanisms are implemented, where each system has a different drive-mode automatic gain controlled (AGC) self-oscillation loop approach, including (i) square wave driving signal with DC off-set named as OLS_SquD, (ii) sinusoidal driving signal with DC off-set named as OLS_SineD, and iii) off-resonance driving signal named as OLS_OffD. A forth system is also constructed with a closed loop sensing mechanism where the drive mode automatic gain controlled (AGC) self-oscillation loop approach with square wave driving signal with DC off-set named as CLS_SquD. Sense and drive mode electronics employ transimpedance and transresistance amplifiers as readout electronics, respectively. Each of the systems is implemented with commercial discrete components on a dedicated PCB. Then, the angular rate sensing systems are tested with SOG (Silicon-on-Glass) gyroscopes that are adjusted to have two different mechanical bandwidths, more specially 100 Hz and 30 Hz. Test results of all of these cases verify the high performance of the systems. For the 100 Hz bandwidth, the OLS_SquD system shows a bias instability of 4.67 &amp / #730 / /hr, an angle random walk (ARW) 0.080 &amp / #730 / /&amp / #8730 / hr, and a scale factor of 22.6 mV/(&amp / #730 / /sec). For the 30 Hz bandwidth, the OLS_SquD system shows a bias instability of 5.12 &amp / #730 / /hr, an ARW better than 0.017 &amp / #730 / /&amp / #8730 / hr, and a scale factor of 49.8 mV/(&amp / #730 / /sec). For the 100 Hz bandwidth, the OLS_SineD system shows a bias instability of 6.92 &amp / #730 / /hr, an ARW of 0.049 &amp / #730 / /&amp / #8730 / hr, and a scale factor of 17.97 mV/(&amp / #730 / /sec). For the 30 Hz bandwidth, the OLS_SineD system shows a bias instability of 4.51 &amp / #730 / /hr, an ARW of 0.030 &amp / #730 / /&amp / #8730 / hr, and a scale factor of 43.24 mV/(&amp / #730 / /sec). For the 100 Hz bandwidth, the OLS_OffD system shows a bias instability of 8.43 &amp / #730 / /hr, an ARW of 0.086 &amp / #730 / /&amp / #8730 / hr, and a scale factor of 20.97 mV/(&amp / #730 / /sec). For the 30 Hz bandwidth, the OLS_OffD system shows a bias instability of 5.72 &amp / #730 / /hr, an ARW of 0.046 &amp / #730 / /&amp / #8730 / hr, and a scale factor of 47.26 mV/(&amp / #730 / /sec). For the 100 Hz bandwidth, the CLS_SquD system shows a bias instability of 6.32 &amp / #730 / /hr, an ARW of 0.055 &amp / #730 / /&amp / #8730 / hr, and a scale factor of 1.79 mV/(&amp / #730 / /sec). For the 30 Hz bandwidth, the CLS_SquD system shows a bias instability of 5.42 &amp / #730 / /hr, an ARW of 0.057 &amp / #730 / /&amp / #8730 / hr, and a scale factor of 1.98 mV/(&amp / #730 / /sec). For the 100 Hz bandwidth, the R2 nonlinearities of the measured scale factors of all systems are between 0.0001% and 0.0003% in the &plusmn / 100 &amp / #730 / /sec measurement range, while for the 30 Hz bandwidth the R2 nonlinearities are between 0.0002% and 0.0062% in the &plusmn / 80&amp / #730 / /sec measurement range. These performance results are the best results obtained at METU, satisfying the tactical-grade performances, and the measured bias instabilities and ARWs are comparable to the best results in the literature for a silicon micromachined vibratory gyroscope.

Die vorliegende Arbeit befasst sich mit der Methode der modalen Superposition als Ordnungsreduktionsverfahren in der Mikrosystemtechnik. Typische Anwendungsgebiete sind Inertialsensoren und dabei im Besonderen Drehratensensoren, für die die Simulation von zeitabhängigen Phänomenen von entscheidender Bedeutung ist. Im Rahmen der Weiterentwicklung der Ordnungsreduktion nach der Methode der modalen Superposition ist es gelungen für typische lineare Kräfte eine auf analytischen Gleichungen basierende Beschreibung im reduzierten Raum zu finden. Für die Beschreibung von nichtlinearen Kräften ist im Rahmen dieser Arbeit ein Verfahren entwickelt worden, das es erlaubt, bestehende Modelle im Finite-Elemente-Raum in der modalen Beschreibung zu nutzen. In dieser Arbeit werden die theoretischen Grundlagen zur Berücksichtigung von Einflüssen der Aufbau- und Verbindungstechnik in ordnungsreduzierten Modellen dargestellt. Neben der Einkopplung äußerer Kräfte und der Veränderung der mechanischen Randbedingungen wird auch der Einfluss der Aufbau- und Verbindungstechnik auf die elektrostatischen Eigenschaften untersucht. Die Parametrisierung des Verfahrens der modalen Superposition über Fit- und Interpolationsverfahren erlaubt es, parametrisierte ordnungsreduzierte Modelle für die zeitabhängige Systemsimulation zu generieren. Damit wird die Durchführung von Designoptimierung und die Berücksichtigung von Fertigungs- und Prozessschwankungen in ordnungsreduzierten Modellen auf Systemebene möglich.

abstract: The ability to monitor electrophysiological signals from the sentient brain is requisite to decipher its enormously complex workings and initiate remedial solutions for the vast amount of neurologically-based disorders. Despite immense advancements in creating a variety of instruments to record signals from the brain, the translation of such neurorecording instrumentation to real clinical domains places heavy demands on their safety and reliability, both of which are not entirely portrayed by presently existing implantable recording solutions. In an attempt to lower these barriers, alternative wireless radar backscattering techniques are proposed to render the technical burdens of the implant chip to entirely passive neurorecording processes that transpire in the absence of formal integrated power sources or powering schemes along with any active circuitry. These radar-like wireless backscattering mechanisms are used to conceive of fully passive neurorecording operations of an implantable microsystem. The fully passive device potentially manifests inherent advantages over current wireless implantable and wired recording systems: negligible heat dissipation to reduce risks of brain tissue damage and minimal circuitry for long term reliability as a chronic implant. Fully passive neurorecording operations are realized via intrinsic nonlinear mixing properties of the varactor diode. These mixing and recording operations are directly activated by wirelessly interrogating the fully passive device with a microwave carrier signal. This fundamental carrier signal, acquired by the implant antenna, mixes through the varactor diode along with the internal targeted neuropotential brain signals to produce higher frequency harmonics containing the targeted neuropotential signals. These harmonics are backscattered wirelessly to the external interrogator that retrieves and recovers the original neuropotential brain signal. The passive approach removes the need for internal power sources and may alleviate heat trauma and reliability issues that limit practical implementation of existing implantable neurorecorders. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Electrical Engineering 2014

Fabrication of hemispherical structures for application in hemispherical resonator gyro-scopes (HRG) is an integral part of modern sensing systems, especially in relation to space navigation. First, it is important for these structures to be as symmetric as possible in order to accurately track both in-plane and out-of-plane acceleration that occurs in fast moving satellites and space crafts. Next, they need to be larger for easier application in current mm scale systems and to maintain a lower noise floor and high quality factor. The work in this paper introduces a methodology for the analyzation of the micromachining process for larger symmetric hemispherical shell resonators (HSR). This is in order to increase their size while maintaining symmetry through isotropic etching using HNA and the pop-up ring mask design. The implementation of the pop-up ring mask allows for symmetric etching of<111> silicon and larger MEMS structures at a low cost while giving more design control to the user in comparison to alternative designs such as the pinhole. The investigation of how hemispheric structures are affected based on the adjustment of the pop-up ring design serves to both create larger symmetric HSRs and create a better model for future designs and applications. During this investigation, a range of design tests were done to create the hemispherical resonator molds in order to gauge the effectiveness of the pop-up ring changes. These results were then used to develop a method for achieving the desired larger symmetric HSRs.

<div>Some of the biggest challenges with analog signal processing at radio frequencies (RF) are: RF loss at the frequency of interest, large enough fractional bandwidth, and sufficient delay. It is difficult to achieve enough delay in radio front ends using a purely electromagnetic approach since it is limited to a fraction of the speed of light. A solution has been the use of acoustic RF devices, such as surface acoustic wave (SAW) delaylines and MEMS filters. For some acoustic RF devices, like high performance Transmit and Receive SAW correlators, the long delays introduce significant propagation losses. These propagation losses can be compensated within the device by integrating a low noise amplifier into the acoustic correlator architecture. This can be accomplished by designing the SAW correlator on a high performance acoustoelectric (AE) platform. The AE effect is a phenomenon where nearby free carriers can interact with a travelling acoustic wave. Free carriers in close proximity to a piezoelectric material can interact with a travelling acoustic wave through its periodic potential. When a drift field is applied, depending on the relative velocity difference between the free carriers and acoustic wave, energy can either be transferred into (amplification) or out of (attenuation) the acoustic wave. </div><div><br></div><div>This thesis investigates the design and feasibility of AE MEMS devices on several Lithium Niobate (LN) platforms. First, the key acoustic and free carrier parameters are discussed and optimized for an ideal high performance AE material stack. In order to debug and analyze the performance of intermediate steps in the process of making high performance AE MEMS devices, three LN-based platforms are used throughout this work. These platforms help further examine some of the key challenges associated with making a high performance AE platform, like wafer bonding, fabrication, device design, and device operating conditions. These material stacks consist of: thin film LN bonded to a silicon wafer (LNOSi), thin film LN bonded to a silicon on insulator wafer (LNOSOI), and epitaxial indium gallium arsenide bonded to a LN wafer (InGaAs-LN).</div><div><br></div><div>The acoustic and piezoelectric performance of SAW devices on the LNOSi and LNOSOI platforms are modeled using COMSOL Multiphysics. A full study is performed to determine the piezoelectric coupling coefficient variation vs. device wavelength, propagation angle, transducer metal, and acoustic mode. A lumped element cross-field Mason model is modified to include substrate conductivity and simulated in Advanced Design System (ADS) software. SAW delaylines are then fabricated with both aluminum (Al) and gold (Au) Interdigital Transducers (IDT) and measured to compare to the simulated results. The analytical AE theory is then presented and calculations are performed to determine the desired (optimum) carrier concentration for AE devices. In addition to the 1D analytical AE model, initial work is done on developing a generalized 2D Finite Element Analysis (FEA) AE modeling scheme in COMSOL. The results for a piezoelectric semiconductor bulk acoustic wave (BAW) resonator and SAW delayline amplifier are presented. </div><div><br></div><div>On the LNOSi platform, gate controlled passive AE delaylines are fabricated and measured to examine the effects of LN bonding on Silicon free carrier concentrations and interface charges. Then, the fabrication and initial measurement results for doped Silicon AE delayline amplifiers are outlined. Based on the device design, the non-reciprocal nature of the AE effect can be used for more than just amplification and loss compensation. Using the InGaAs-LN platform, several classes of AE devices are designed and tested in pulsed mode operation. First, a series of segmented AE delayline amplifiers are measured to look at how the relative AE gain performance and input DC power scale with acoustic frequency, segment unit length, and number of segments. By taking advantage of the non-reciprocal shift in acoustic velocity, a dual-voltage AE delayline phase shifter is designed and tested. Routing of the acoustic waves between parallel delaylines can be accomplished through multistrip couplers (MSC) and can increase the library of possible AE device designs. The simplest example is a 3-port AE switch, which is designed and tested. The demonstration of these AE MEMS devices opens the door to a larger library of non-reciprocal acoustic devices utilizing the AE effect in high performance integrated material platforms.</div>

Micro and nanofabrication technologies have been used extensively in many biomedical and biological applications. Integration of MEMS technology and biology (BioMEMS) enables precise control of the cellular microenvironments and offers high throughput systems. The focus of this research was to develop three dimensional (3-D) isotropic microstructures for comprehensive analysis on cell-substrate interactions. The aim was to investigate whether the normal and cancerous cells differentially respond to their underlying substrate and whether the differential response of the cells leads to a novel label-free technique to distinguish between normal and cancerous cells. Three different generations of 3-D isotropic microstructures comprised of curved surfaces were developed using a single-mask, single-etch step process. Our experimental model included HS68 normal human fibroblasts, MCF10A normal human breast epithelial cells and MDA-MB-231 metastatic human breast cancer cells. Primary findings on the first generation of silicon substrates demonstrated a distinct adhesion and growth behavior in HS68 and MDA-MB-231 cells. MDA-MB-231 cells deformed while the fibroblasts stretched and elongated their cytoskeleton on the curved surfaces. Unlike fibroblasts, MDA-MB-231 cells mainly trapped and localized inside the deep microchambers. Detailed investigations on cytoskeletal organization, adhesion pattern and morphology of the cells on the second generation of the silicon substrates demonstrated that cytoskeletal prestress and microtubules organization in HS68 cells, cell-cell junction and cell-substrate adhesion strength in MCF10A cells, and deformability of MDA-MB-231 cells (obtained by using AFM technique) affect their behavior inside the etched cavities. Treatment of MDA-MB-231 cells with experimental breast cancer drug, SAHA, on the second generation of substrates, significantly altered the cells morphology, cytoarchitecture and adhesion pattern inside the 3-D microstructures. Third generation of silicon substrates was developed for comprehensive analysis on behavior of MDA-MB-231 and MCF10A cells in a co-culture system in response to SAHA drug. Formation of colonies of both cell types was evident inside the cavities within a few hours after seeding the cells on the chips. SAHA selectively altered the morphology and cytoarchitecture in MDA-MB-231 cells. Most importantly, the majority of MDA-MB-231 cells stretched inside the etched cavities, while the adhesion pattern of MCF10A cells remained unaltered. In the last part of this dissertation, using AFM analysis, we showed that the growth medium composition has a pronounced effect on cell elasticity. Our findings demonstrated that the proposed isotropic silicon microstructures have potential applications in development of biosensor platforms for cell segregation as well as conducting fundamental biological studies. / Ph. D.

Cancer progression is accompanied with alterations in the cell biomechanical phenotype, including changes in cell structure, morphology, and responses to microenvironmental stress. These alterations result in an increased deformability of transformed cells and reduced resistance to mechanical stimuli, enabling motility and invasion. Therefore, single cell biomechanical properties could be served as a powerful label-free biomarker for effective characterization and early detection of single cancer cells. Advances and innovations in microsystems and nanotechnology have facilitated interrogation of the biomechanical properties of single cells to predict their tumorigenicity, metastatic potential, and health state. This dissertation utilized Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) for the cell biomechanical phenotyping for cancer diagnosis and early detection, efficacy screening of potential chemotherapeutic agents, and also cancer stem-like/tumor initiating cells (CSC/TICs) characterization as the critical topics received intensive attention in the search for effective cancer treatment. Our findings demonstrated the capability of exogenous sphingosine to revert the aberrant biomechanics of aggressive cells and showed a unique, mechanically homogeneous, and extremely soft characteristic of CSC/TICs, suitable for their targeted isolation. To make full use of cell biomechanical cues, this dissertation also considered the application of nonlinear viscoelastic models such as Fractional Zener and Generalized Maxwell models for the naturally complex, heterogeneous, and nonlinear structure of living cells. The emerging need for a high-throughput clinically relevant alternative for evaluating biomechanics of individual cells led us to the development of a microfluidic system. Therefore, a high-throughput, label-free, automated microfluidic chip was developed to investigate the biophysical (biomechanical-bioelectrical) markers of normal and malignant cells. Most importantly, this dissertation also explored the biomechanical response of cells upon a dynamic loading instead of a typical transient stress. Notably, metastatic and non-metastatic cells subjected to a pulsed stress regimen exerted by AFM exhibited distinct biomechanical responses. While non-metastatic cells showed an increase in their resistance against deformation and resulted in strain-stiffening behavior, metastatic cells responded by losing their resistance and yielded slight strain-softening. Ultimately, a second generation microfluidic chip called an iterative mechanical characteristics (iMECH) analyzer consisting of a series of constriction channels for simulating the dynamic stress paradigm was developed which could reproduce the same stiffening/softening trends of non-metastatic and metastatic cells, respectively. Therefore, for the first time, the use of dynamic loading paradigm to evaluate cell biomechanical responses was used as a new signature to predict malignancy or normalcy at a single-cell level with a high (~95%) confidence level. / Ph. D.

Bioimpedance presents a versatile, label-free means of monitoring biological cells and their responses to physical, chemical and biological stimuli. Breast cancer is the second most common type of cancer among women in the United States. Although significant progress has been made in diagnosis and treatment of this disease, there is a need for robust, easy-to-use technologies that can be used for the identification and discrimination of critical subtypes of breast cancer in biopsies obtained from patients. This dissertation makes contributions in three major areas towards addressing the goal. First, we developed miniaturized bioimpedance sensors using MEMS and microfluidics technology that have the requisite traits for clinical use including reliability, ease-of-use, low-cost and disposability. Here, we designed and fabricated two types of bioimpedance sensors. One was based on electric cell-substrate impedance sensing (ECIS) to monitor cell adhesion based events and the other was a microfluidic device with integrated microelectrodes to examine the biophysical properties of single cells. Second, we examined a panel of triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) cell lines and a hormone therapy resistant model of breast cancer in order to improve our understanding of the bioimpedance spectra of breast cancer subtypes. Third, we explored strategies to improve the sensitivity of the microelectrodes to bioimpedance measurements from breast cancer cells. We investigated nano-scale coatings on the surface of the electrode and geometrical variations in a branched electrode design to accomplish this. This work demonstrates the promise of bioimpedance technologies in monitoring diseased cells and their responses to pharmaceutical agents, and motivates further research in customization of this technique for use in personalized medicine. / Ph. D.