By

 Mr. Saradindu Ghosh 

 MTB/09/1029 
First of all, what is MEMS ?
 MEMS stands for Micro Electro Mechanical Systems.
 It is a technique of combining Electrical and Mechanical
components together on a chip, to produce a system of
miniature dimensions ..

 By miniature, we mean dimensions less than the

thickness of human hair !!!!
 Figure 5.1: Jonathan Swift.
Courtesy Sandia National Laboratories, SUMMiT™ Technologies, www.sandia.gov/mstc.

Drive gear chain and linkages, with a grain of pollen (top

right) and coagulated red blood cells (lower right, top left) to
demonstrate scale.
Introduction, Continued

The Scale of Things.

 Introduction, Continued
Definition and Terms
MST - Microsystems Technology (European)
MEMS - Microelectromechanical Systems (U.S.)
 Manmade devices created using compatible
microfabrication techniques that are capable of
 Converting physical stimuli, events and parameters to
electrical, mechanical & optical signals
 Performing actuation, sensing and other functions
Introduction, Continued

Image Courtesy of Sandia National Laboratories, SUMMiTTM Technologies, www.mems.sandia.gov

Spider mite with legs on a mirror drive assembly.

 Brief History
1962 Silicon Integrated piezo actuators BY O.N. Tufte et al.
1967 Anisotropic deep silicon etching H.A. Waggener
1967 The resonant gate transistor by H. Nathanson, et.al
1972 National Semiconductor - Pressure Sensor
1979 Thermal inkjet technology is invented at HP laboratories
1982 “Silicon as a Mechanical Material” K. Peterson
1982 Liga Process (KFIK, Germany)
1983 “Infinitesimal Machinery” R. Feynman
1983 Silicon Micromechanical devices – J.B.Angel etc.
1983 Integrated Pressure Sensor – Honeywell
1985 Airbag Crash Sensor
1987 Dr. Hornbeck Digital Micromirror Device or DMD (DLP by Texas Instruments)
Later in 1990s micromachining begins leveraging microelectronics industry
1993 Accelerometer integrated with electronics Analog devices
1994 DRIE Etching (Bosch process is patented)
1999 Optical network switch - Lucent
 Electromechanical Systems
Functional Block Diagram

Electromechanical Systems functional block diagram.

MEMS

•Practice of making and combining miniaturized

mechanical and electrical components

•“Micromachines” in Japan

•“Microsystems Technology” in Europe

 MEMS
Microstructure Fabrication
Materials
Crystallography – Forms of Silicon
 Amorphous
 Polycrystalline
 Crystalline
“Miller Planes”

Miller Indices, Direction Examples

 MEMS, Continued
Microstructure Fabrication, Continued
-Structural layer
-Sacrificial layer

Pattern definition
Photolithography
deposit
Deposition
Oxidation, chemical-vapor
deposition, ion implantation
pattern
Removal
Etching, evaporation

Microstructure Fabrication
etch
MEMS, Continued
Microstructure Fabrication, Continued

Processing Techniques
Deep Reactive Ion Etching (DRIE)
Surface Micromachining
LIGA process – Lithography / Electroplating / Molding
SUMMIT process
 MEMS, Continued
MEMS Advantages
The advantages of MEMS devices include
• Size
• High sensitivity
• Low noise
• Reduced cost
• Batch Processing
The applications for MEMS are so far reaching that a multi-billion dollar
market is forecast. Key industry applications include transportation,
telecommunications and healthcare.
 The wonder called nanotechnology
Nanotechnology is the technology of arranging atoms and
molecules in a material.
This allows to alter the properties of a material and build
structures of desired features.
A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter.
Nanotechnology makes it possible to manufacture devices
80,000 times smaller than the thickness of human hair !
A simple analogy..
The atoms in an object can be
compared to the blocks in a building
game.

In a building game, the blocks can

be arranged to create different
looking structures.

Similarly, atoms can be arranged

differently to produce a multitude of
devices. This forms the basis of
nanotechnology.
Benefits of MEMS and nanotechnology in
medical applications
 Small volume of reagent samples (like blood), required for analysis.
 Low power consumption, hence lasts longer on the same battery.
 Less invasive, hence less painful.
 Integration permits a large number of systems to be built on a single
chip.
 Batch processing can lower costs significantly.
 Existing IC technology can be used to make these devices.
 Silicon, used in most MEMS devices, interferes lesser with
body tissues.
Can MEMS devices really replace the
existing medical devices ?

A lot of MEMS medical

devices have been
developed that are much
more sensitive and robust
than their conventional
counterparts.

Market trends for MEMS

medical devices show a
promising future ahead.
www.edmond-wheelchair.com/ bp_monitors3.htm
http://www.sensorsmag.com/articles/0497/medical/main.shtml
Projected MEMS market share in 2009

Consumer 3% Medical 11%

Industrial 22%
Automotive 17%

Communictions
21% Computer 26%

http://www.memsindustrygroup.org/industy_statistics.asp
Classification of biological MEMS devices
 Biomedical MEMS – deals “in vivo”, within the host body.
→ precision surgery
→ Biotelemetry
→ Drug delivery
→ Biosensors and other physical sensors

 Biotechnology MEMS – deals “in vitro”, with the biological samples

obtained from the host body.
→ Diagnostics
→ gene sequencing
→ Drug discover
→ pathogen detection
Biosensor status
There are many promising systems on the horizon, but the
only commercially-deployed biosensors are glucose
monitors (~$4B). 3 main types:

Single Use: Disposable sensing material, often “static”

measurement. Cheap and portable, but low sensitivity
and accuracy.

Intermittent Use: Often use hydrodynamics – generally

much better performance from sensing a moving fluid. Its
still a challenge to move these out of the lab and onto a
chip.
Biosensor status
Continuous (In Vivo) Sensors: Very economical, but very
hard to calibrate and may suffer from unknown amount of
drift.
Biosensor design
 While these were originally fabricated in silicon using
MEMS techniques, the trend is toward glass and plastic as
the substrate.

 Both glass and many plastics allow optical measurements,

but silicon is opaque to visible light.

 Glass and plastic are also more resistant to contamination

from the chemicals used in the measurement.
Biosensor design
Surface immobilization: The first step is sensing is creating
a selective surface to react to the sensed agent
Biosensor design
Bead immobilization: A variation that uses beads to
increase relative surface area.
Biosensor design
Detection: Several methods, including resonant frequency
of MEMS cantilevers. But amperometry (current
measurement) is the most widely used approach. Typical
mechanisms for current flow include redox cycles
between the target group and variants.
Biosensor design
Optical Detection: A 2D
array of agent/antigen
reactions produces
fluorescent traces:
Biosensor design
Magnetic Detection: The antibodies are immobilized on a
surface and magnetic beads bind to sites where the
analyte is attached.
Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
Reuse
Most immunosensors use bound antibodies and
immobilization. Removing the bound species can be difficult
without destroying the sensors.

Methods and results vary, but a recent detector for Chagas

disease used glycine-HCl to wash the sensor, and reported
efficacy for more than 30 cycles.
Biosensor design
Systems-on-a-chip: are promising but coming slowly.
Biosensing still seems a long way from commercial
viability. But there are some promising prototypes:
A Field Effect Transistor
• An optical micrograph
showing the gate, source,
and drain on a
pMOSFET device.
• The Scale is L/W
20µm/220µm
MEMS and drug delivery
A Graphical Representation of nanorobots working in a blood vessel, to
remove a cancerous cell

www.e-spaces.com/portfolio/ trans/blood/
MEMS microneedles
 MEMS enables hundreds of hollow
microneedles to be fabricated on a
single patch of area, say a square
centimeter.
 This patch is applied to the skin and
drug is delivered to the body using
micropumps.
 These micropumps can be gtresearchnews.gatech.edu/ newsrelease/NEEDLES.htm

electronically controlled to allow

specific amounts of the drug and
also deliver them at specific
intervals.
 Microneedles are too small to reach
and stimulate the nerve endings,
and hence cause no pain to the
body.
http://www.pharmtech.com/pharmtech/data/articlestandard/pharmtech/022004/807
le.pdf
Smart Pill
 A MEMS device that can be
implanted in the human body.
 Consists of
 biosensors
 Battery
 Control circuitry
 Drug reservoirs
 The biosensors sense the substance
to be measured, say insulin.
 Once this quantity falls below a
certain amount required by the
body, the pill releases the drug.

http://mmadou.eng.uci.edu/
“As” Detecting Biosensor
Challenges for MEMS medical sensors
Biocompatibility remains the biggest hurdle for
MEMS medical devices.
Life of the device.
Retrieving data out of the device.
Resist drifting along with the body fluids.
Summary and Conclusions
Selective, field portable sensors have been
demonstrated with rapid sub ppb
Wide dynamic ranges and good selectivity for target
analytes analytes
Field portable system demonstrated
FET and CV modes of operation
FET gives total change in gate potential, e.g. all
actinides actinides.
CV differentiates species based on redox potential
More optimization and characterization is needed
THANK U