EE 247A. Introduction to Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS)
Catalog Description: This course will teach fundamentals of micromachining and microfabrication techniques, including planar thin-film process technologies, photolithographic techniques, deposition and etching techniques, and the other technologies that are central to MEMS fabrication. It will pay special attention to teaching of fundamentals necessary for the design and analysis of devices and systems in mechanical, electrical, fluidic, and thermal energy/signal domains, and will teach basic techniques for multi-domain analysis. Fundamentals of sensing and transduction mechanisms including capacitive and piezoresistive techniques, and design and analysis of micmicromachined miniature sensors and actuators using these techniques will be covered.
Units: 3
Prerequisites: EECS 16A and EECS 16B; or consent of instructor required.
Credit Restrictions: Students will receive no credit for EE 247A after taking EE 147.
Formats:
Fall: 3.0 hours of lecture and 1.0 hours of discussion per week
Spring: 3.0 hours of lecture and 1.0 hours of discussion per week
Grading basis: letter
Final exam status: No final exam
Class Schedule (Fall 2024):
EE 147/247A – TuTh 17:00-18:29, Dwinelle 88 –
Yuan Cao
Department Notes: Department Notes: In the last decades, the R&D of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) has advanced at an unprecedented pace, impacting a variety of disciplines, which span from communication and sensing to computing and medicine. As a result, several MEMS devices have become commercially available, and today play a fundamental role in many integrated systems, thanks to their ability to meet critical and heterogenous needs that cannot be addressed by other technologies (e.g., CMOS). In this course, we will learn the fundamentals behind the design, fabrication, and characterization of MEMS devices, as well as some of their applications. We will evaluate the benefits of scaling in comparison to CMOS, such as faster speed, lower power consumption, and larger sensitivity. Microfabrication processes, including silicon surface and bulk micromachining and non-silicon micromachining, will enable the transfer of designs from CAD layouts to functional devices. The Euler-Bernoulli and Sophie-German equations that determine elasticity in beams and plates, respectively, will be derived in detail, and we will provide examples of equivalent stiffness calculation in multiple interconnected beams. In regards to dynamic analysis, we will provide the tools needed to compute the effective mass and the natural resonance frequency of any flexural structure, and dive into the main damping mechanisms that limit Q factor. We will introduce the different electromechanical transduction mechanisms, but focus on electrostatics and piezoelectricity. We will use inertial sensors (i.e., accelerometer and gyroscopes) as a case study to emphasize the importance of operational amplifiers (OpAmps) in the electronic characterization of MEMS, and discuss the different sources of noise. Finally, we will have an overview of the field of RF MEMS and, in particular, refer to RF switches, filters, and oscillators, as the components that currently generate the largest revenues in the wireless communication market. All of this knowledge will complemented with Finite Element Modeling (FEM) using COMSOL Multiphysics, and put in practice in a real MEMS technology application. Related Areas: Micro/Nano Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) Physical Electronics (PHY)
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