Use of thermal cycling to reduce adhesion of OTS-coated MEMS cantilevers

Shaikh Mubassar Ali; Leslie M. Phinney

doi:10.1117/12.472731

16 January 2003 Use of thermal cycling to reduce adhesion of OTS coated coated MEMS cantilevers

Proceedings Volume 4980, Reliability, Testing, and Characterization of MEMS/MOEMS II; (2003) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.472731
Event: Micromachining and Microfabrication, 2003, San Jose, CA, United States

Abstract

°Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) have enormous potential to contribute in diverse fields such as automotive, health care, aerospace, consumer products, and biotechnology, but successful commercial applications of MEMS are still small in number. Reliability of MEMS is a major impediment to the commercialization of laboratory prototypes. Due to the multitude of MEMS applications and the numerous processing and packaging steps, MEMS are exposed to a variety of environmental conditions, making the prediction of operational reliability difficult. In this paper, we investigate the effects of operating temperature on the in-use adhesive failure of electrostatically actuated MEMS microcantilevers coated with octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS) films. The cantilevers are subjected to repeated temperature cycles and electrostatically actuated at temperatures between 25°C and 300°C in ambient air. The experimental results indicate that temperature cycling of the OTS coated cantilevers in air reduces the sticking probability of the microcantilevers. The sticking probability of OTS coated cantilevers was highest during heating, which decreased during cooling, and was lowest during reheating. Modifications to the OTS release method to increase its yield are also discussed.

Citation Download Citation

Shaikh Mubassar Ali and Leslie M. Phinney "Use of thermal cycling to reduce adhesion of OTS coated coated MEMS cantilevers", Proc. SPIE 4980, Reliability, Testing, and Characterization of MEMS/MOEMS II, (16 January 2003); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.472731

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available