Designing microelectromechanical systems-on-a-chip in a 5-level surface micromachine technology

摘要

A new 5-level polysilicon surface micromachine process has been developed that offers significantly increased system complexity, while further promoting the manufacturability and reliability of microscopic mechanical systems. In general, as complexity increases, reliability suffers. This is not necessarily the case, however, with MicroElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS). In fact, utilizing additional levels of polysilicon in structures can greatly increase yield, reliability, and robustness. Surface micromachine devices are built thousands at a time using the infrastructure developed to support the incredibly reliable microelectronics industry, and the batch fabrication process utilized in the 5-level technology further increases reliability and reduces cost by totally eliminating post assembly.