Catalog Description: Physics, fabrication, and design of micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS). Micro and nanofabrication processes, including silicon surface and bulk micromachining and non-silicon micromachining. Integration strategies and assembly processes. Microsensor and microactuator devices: electrostatic, piezoresistive, piezoelectric, thermal, magnetic transduction. Electronic position-sensing circuits and electrical and mechanical noise. CAD for MEMS. Design project is required.

Units: 4

Prerequisites: Graduate standing in engineering or science; undergraduates with consent of instructor.

Formats:
Spring: 3 hours of lecture and 1 hour of discussion per week
Fall: 3 hours of lecture and 1 hour of discussion per week

Grading basis: letter

Final exam status: Written final exam conducted during the scheduled final exam period

Also listed as: MEC ENG C218

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Class Schedule (Spring 2025):
EE C247B – MoWe 09:30-10:59, Cory 540AB – Jeronimo Segovia Fernandez

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Department Notes: Spring 2024 Instrcutor: Jerónimo Segovia (Personal Profile:https://www2.eecs.berkeley.edu/Faculty/Homepages/segovia.html) Lecture: 9:30-11am Cory 540AB Discussion: 1-2pm Cory 450AB In the last three decades, the research of Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) has advanced at an unprecedented pace, impacting a variety of disciplines, spanning 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 existing integrated systems thanks to their ability to meet critical and heterogenous needs that cannot be addressed by other technologies. 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 electronic circuits, 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 equation will be derived in detail and we will provide examples of equivalent stiffness calculation in flexural structures with multiple interconnected beams. For dynamic analysis, we will compute the effective mass of any flexural structure using the Rayleigh's energy method and determine their intrinsic resonance frequency by equating the maximum Potential and Kinetic energies. We will introduce the different electrical-to mechanical transduction mechanisms, but focus on electrostatics and piezoelectricity. We will use the gyroscope as a case study to emphasize the importance of op amps 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 switches, filters, and oscillators, as the components that currently generate the largest revenues for companies in the wireless communication market.