Microelectromechanical System (MEMS) technology is advancing rapidly. Gyroscopes, accelerometers and magnetometers, also referred to as an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), has traditionally been associated with aerospace and industrial robotics but is now within every smart phone. The proliferation of these low-cost devices has facilitated countless new applications with many more still unrealised. This dissertation presents work towards this end. A significant contribution of this work was the development of novel Attitude and Heading Reference System (AHRS) algorithms that fuse together sensor data from an IMU to provide an absolute measurement of orientation relative to the Earth. The novel work presented on non-gyro IMU s demonstrated the potential practical benefits of such kinematically redundant sensor arrays. Low-cost MEMS can only be fully utilised if they are combined with a calibration solution to provide precise measurements with a determined accuracy. This dissertation presents a comprehensive calibration solution to the specific requirements of these sensors based on extensive characterisations investigations. The calibration solutions enable sensors costing <10 United States Dollar (USD) to achieve a static pitch/roll accuracy of <10 and a static heading accuracy of <2°. This performance is equivalent to commercial 1M Us costing up to 3000 USD. The AHRS algorithm and sensor calibration works were brought together in the development of three IMU hardware platforms. To date, >500 have been sold and the open-source associated algorithm downloaded> 10,000 times. Each platform addressed a specific design need and together these facilitated a wide range of new applications; demonstrated by the numerous scientific publications that resulted from collaborative projects and user projects.

Electromagnetic metamaterials have emerged as a powerful tool to tailor the electromagnetic material properties and control wave propagation using artificial sub-wavelength structures. During the past fifteen years, metamaterials have been intensively studied over the electromagnetic spectrum (from microwave to visible), giving rise to extraordinary phenomena including negative refractive index, invisibility cloaking, sub-diffraction-limit focusing, perfect absorption, and numerous novel electromagnetic devices and optical components. The terahertz regime, between 0.3 THz and 10 THz, is of particular interest due to its appealing applications in imaging, chemical and biological sensing and security screening. Metamaterials foster the development of terahertz sources and detectors and expand the potential applications of the terahertz technology through the realization of dynamic and tunable devices. The objective of this thesis is to present different mechanisms to implement active terahertz metamaterial devices by incorporating advanced microelectromechanical system technology. First, an optical mechanism is employed to create tunable metamaterials and perfect absorbers on flexible substrates. A semiconductor transfer technique is developed to transfer split ring resonators on GaAs patches to ultrathin polyimide substrate. Utilizing photo-excited free carriers in the semiconductor patches, a dynamic modulation of the metamaterial is demonstrated. Additionally, this thesis investigates how sufficiently large terahertz electric fields drive free carriers resulting in nonlinear metamaterial perfect absorbers. Second, a mechanically tunable metamaterial based on dual-layer broadside coupled split ring resonators is studied with the help of comb drive actuators. One of the layers is fixed while the other is laterally moved by an electrostatic voltage to control the interlayer coupling factors. As demonstrated, the amplitude and phase of the transmission response can be dynamically modulated. Third, a microcantilever array is used to create a reconfigurable metamaterial, which is fabricated using surface micromachining techniques. The separation distance between suspended beams and underlying capacitive pads can be altered with an electrostatic force, thereby tuning the transmission spectrum. The tuning mechanisms demonstrated in this thesis can be employed to construct devices to facilitate the development and commercialization of new compact and mechanically robust metamaterial-based terahertz technologies. / 2017-11-05T00:00:00Z

<p>Microsystem interfaces to the macroscopic surroundings and within the microsystems themselves are formidable challenges that this thesis makes an effort to overcome, specifically for enabling a spacecraft based entirely on microsystems. The NanoSpace-1 nanospacecraft is a full-fledged satellite design with mass below 10 kg. The high performance with respect to mass is enabled by a massive implementation of microsystem technology – the entire spacecraft structure is built from square silicon panels that allow for efficient microsystem integration. The panels comprise bonded silicon wafers, fitted with silicone rubber gaskets into aluminium frames. Each module of the spacecraft is added in a way that strengthens and stiffens the overall spacecraft structure.</p><p>The structural integrity of the silicon module as a generic building block has been successfully proven. The basic design (silicon, silicone, aluminium) survived considerable mechanical loads, where the silicon material contributed significantly to the strength of the structural element. Structural modeling of the silicon building blocks enables rapid iterative design of e.g. spacecraft structures by the use of pertinent model simplifications.</p><p>Other microsystem interfaces treats fluidic, thermal, and mechanical functions. First, solder sealing of microsystem cavities was demonstrated, using screen-printed solder and localized resistive heating in the microsystem interface. Second, a dismountable fluidic microsystem connector, using a ridged silicon membrane, intended for monopropellant thruster systems, was developed. Third, a thermally regulated microvalve for minute flows, made by a silicon ridge imprint in a stainless steel nipple, was investigated. Finally, particle filters for gas interfaces to microsystems, or between parts of fluidic microsystems, were made from sets of crossed v-grooves in the interface of a bonded silicon wafer stack. Filter manufacture, mass flow and pressure drop characterization, together with numeric modeling for filter design, was performed.</p><p>All in all this reduces the weight and volume when microsystems are interfaced in their applications.</p>

Microsystem interfaces to the macroscopic surroundings and within the microsystems themselves are formidable challenges that this thesis makes an effort to overcome, specifically for enabling a spacecraft based entirely on microsystems. The NanoSpace-1 nanospacecraft is a full-fledged satellite design with mass below 10 kg. The high performance with respect to mass is enabled by a massive implementation of microsystem technology – the entire spacecraft structure is built from square silicon panels that allow for efficient microsystem integration. The panels comprise bonded silicon wafers, fitted with silicone rubber gaskets into aluminium frames. Each module of the spacecraft is added in a way that strengthens and stiffens the overall spacecraft structure. The structural integrity of the silicon module as a generic building block has been successfully proven. The basic design (silicon, silicone, aluminium) survived considerable mechanical loads, where the silicon material contributed significantly to the strength of the structural element. Structural modeling of the silicon building blocks enables rapid iterative design of e.g. spacecraft structures by the use of pertinent model simplifications. Other microsystem interfaces treats fluidic, thermal, and mechanical functions. First, solder sealing of microsystem cavities was demonstrated, using screen-printed solder and localized resistive heating in the microsystem interface. Second, a dismountable fluidic microsystem connector, using a ridged silicon membrane, intended for monopropellant thruster systems, was developed. Third, a thermally regulated microvalve for minute flows, made by a silicon ridge imprint in a stainless steel nipple, was investigated. Finally, particle filters for gas interfaces to microsystems, or between parts of fluidic microsystems, were made from sets of crossed v-grooves in the interface of a bonded silicon wafer stack. Filter manufacture, mass flow and pressure drop characterization, together with numeric modeling for filter design, was performed. All in all this reduces the weight and volume when microsystems are interfaced in their applications.

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京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(医学) / 甲第23752号 / 医博第4798号 / 新制||医||1055(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院医学研究科医学専攻 / (主査)教授 山下 潤, 教授 木村 剛, 教授 井上 治久 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Medical Science / Kyoto University / DFAM

There are various energy dissipation mechanisms that affect the dynamic response of microstructures used in MEMS devices. A cumulative effect of such losses is captured by an important characteristic of the structure called Quality factor or Q-factor. Estimating Q-factor at the design stage is crucial in all applications that use dynamics as their principle mode of operation. A high Q-factor indicates sharp resonance that, in turn, can indicate a broad flat response region of the structure. In addition, a high Q-factor typically indicates a high sensitivity. Microstructures used in MEMS are generally required to have much higher Q-factors than their macro counterparts. However some damping mechanisms present in microstructures can reduce the Q-factor of the structure significantly. In the present work, we investigate the dependence of Q-factor on the squeeze film damping an energy dissipation mechanism that dominates by a couple of orders of magnitude over other losses when a fluid (e.g., air) is squeezed through gaps due to vibrations of a microstructure. In particular, we show the effect of nonlinear terms in the analysis of squeeze film damping on the Q-factor of a structure. We also show the effect of rarefaction, surface roughness along with their coupled effect and with different boundary conditions such as open border effect, blocked boundary effect on the squeeze film damping. Finally, we develop similitude laws for calculating squeeze film damping force in up-scaled structures. We illustrate the effects by studying various type of microstructures including parallel plates, beams, plate and beam assemblies such as MEMS microphone, vibratory gyroscope etc. We view the contributions of this work as a significant in investigating and integrating all important effects altogether on the squeeze film damping, which is a significant factor in the design and analysis of MEMS devices.

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Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-21T19:25:58Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Joao Frederico.pdf: 2218397 bytes, checksum: 781c58d12bce3113c45da4e65bd0e36d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-03-11 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / In this dissertation, we studied entanglement in some fundamental systems of physics, such as an excited atom in free-space spontaneously decaying and coupled harmonic oscillators. In order to study entanglement in spontaneous emission in free-space, we employed theWeisskopf-Wigner theory which allowed us to obtain the time evolution of both the atom and field states. In the case of bipartite entanglement among field modes after spontaneous emission, we showed that the modes can become highly entangled and that the features of this entanglement strongly depend on the way the partitions are made. For the entanglement between atom and field during spontaneous emission, we were able to relate entanglement to a well known physical quantity namely the lifetime of an atom in a excited state. Keeping in mind the intention to study simple but relevant physical systems, we used in the second work a chain of coupled harmonic oscillators. It was well-known among researchers in the field of quantum information that a linear chain of coupled oscillators in the rotating wave approximation and prepared in classical states would never create entanglement. Then, we used two reference oscillators prepared in squeezed states to make creation of entanglement possible. We found results concerning the relationship between the phases in the reference oscillators’ state and dynamics of entanglement in the chain for some coupling configurations. We showed that it is not always true that squeezing can favor entanglement creation and that with the configuration used by us it is possible to localize entanglement. We proposed a possible implementation of our results in coupled microelectromechanical systems. / Nesta dissertação estudamos o emaranhamento em alguns sistemas fundamentais da Física, como um átomo no espaço livre realizando emissão espontânea e em osciladores harmônicos acoplados. Para o estudo do emaranhamento na emissão espontânea no espaço livre, utilizamos a teoria de Weisskopf-Wigner que nos permitiu obter a evolução temporal, tanto do estado do átomo, quanto do estado do campo. Para o caso de emaranhamento bipartido entre os modos do campo após a emissão espontânea, mostramos que os modos podem ficar altamente emaranhados e que as características desse emaranhamento dependem fortemente de como são realizadas as partições. Para o emaranhamento entre o átomo e o campo durante a emissão espontânea, pudemos relacionar o emaranhamento com uma quantidade Física bastante conhecida, o tempo de vida do átomo no seu estado excitado. Ainda com o intuito de estudar sistemas físicos simples, mas de relevância na Física, utilizamos, em um segundo trabalho, uma cadeia de osciladores harmônicos acoplados. Já era bem conhecido dos pesquisadores na área de informação quântica que uma cadeia linear de osciladores acoplados, na aproximação de onda girante e preparados em estados clássicos, não cria emaranhamento. Assim, utilizamos dois osciladores de referência em estados comprimidos para permitir a criação de emaranhamento. Encontramos resultados a respeito da relação das fases dos osciladores de referência e a dinâmica do emaranhamento na cadeia para algumas configurações de acoplamentos. Mostramos que nem sempre a compressão dos estados comprimidos favorece a criação de emaranhamento e que na configuração utilizada por nós é possível localizar o emaranhamento. Nós propusemos uma possível implementação de nossos estudos em sistemas microeletromecânicos acoplados.