Performance Of Microelectromechanical Systems Devices Research Articles

Design and Evaluation of Control Algorithms for MEMS Devices in MATLAB/Simulink

The field of Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) Has witnessed significant advancements in recent years, enabling the development of miniaturized devices with diverse applications. Efficient control algorithms play a crucial role in optimizing the performance of MEMS devices, ensuring accurate sensing and actuation capabilities. This paper presents the design and evaluation of control algorithms for MEMS devices using MATLAB/Simulink, a versatile simulation environment. The proposed research focuses on the development of control algorithms tailored specifically for MEMS devices. The design process involves modeling the MEMS system in MATLAB/Simulink and incorporating real-world constraints and dynamics. To evaluate the performance of the control algorithms, extensive simulations are conducted. The outcomes of this research provide valuable insights into the design and evaluation of control algorithms for MEMS devices in MATLAB/Simulink. The results demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the developed algorithms in enhancing the performance of MEMS systems. Furthermore, the research contributes to expanding the knowledge base of MEMS control design, paving the way for advanced applications and innovations in this rapidly evolving field.

Design of freeform geometries in a MEMS accelerometer with a mechanical motion preamplifier based on a genetic algorithm

This paper describes a novel, semiautomated design methodology based on a genetic algorithm (GA) using freeform geometries for microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices. The proposed method can design MEMS devices comprising freeform geometries and optimize such MEMS devices to provide high sensitivity, large bandwidth, and large fabrication tolerances. The proposed method does not require much computation time or memory. The use of freeform geometries allows more degrees of freedom in the design process, improving the diversity and performance of MEMS devices. A MEMS accelerometer comprising a mechanical motion amplifier is presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the design approach. Experimental results show an improvement in the product of sensitivity and bandwidth by 100% and a sensitivity improvement by 141% compared to the case of a device designed with conventional orthogonal shapes. Furthermore, excellent immunities to fabrication tolerance and parameter mismatch are achieved.

Effects of Sidewall Inclination on Performance of Electrothermal Micro-Actuator

As an important part of Micro-Electro-Mechanical systems (MEMS), micro-actuators have a direct impact on the performance of MEMS devices. This paper presents the effects of sidewall inclination of deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) on the performance of U-shaped electrothermal micro-actuators. The electrothermal micro-actuator models with sidewall inclination angles from -5° to 5° are simulated through finite element method (FEM) by ANSYS to study the influences on the output displacement and the highest node temperature. The simulation results show that electrothermal micro-actuator with larger sidewall inclination angle has more displacement deviation. In addition, larger voltage amplifies the deviation of displacement. The highest node temperature decreases with the increase of the sidewall inclination, and the deviation is small.

Static pull in analysis of stepped microcantilever beam based on strain gradient theory using differential quadrature method

Electrostatic microbeams have a special place in advanced technology as part of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). So accurate modeling and providing suitable methods for solving governing equations their mechanical behavior is of great importance. Stepped microbeams are widely used in MEMS industries. In this paper, based on the nonclassical theory of strain gradient, static analysis of a stepped microbeam with boundary conditions of clamped-free (CF) has been investigated. The governing equations are transformed into nondimensional form and then solved using differential quadrature (DQ) method. Length scale parameter of the Polyaniline (PANI) also obtained. Most of the microbeams which made of Gold, Nickel or Silicon were analyzed, but we used variety of conductive polymers in this work. The results show that conductive polymer microbeams can be a suitable substitute for expensive metals. The results can be used to design and improve the performance of MEMS devices.

Efficient ultra‐high‐voltage controller‐based complementary‐metal‐oxide‐semiconductor switched‐capacitor DC–DC converter for radio‐frequency micro‐electro‐mechanical systems switch actuation

Achieving wireless connectivity in ever smaller, lower power portable devices with increasing number of features and better radio-frequency (RF) performance is becoming difficult to fulfill through existing RF front-end technology. RF micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) switch technology, which has significantly better RF characteristics than conventional technology and has near-zero power consumption, is one of the emerging solutions for next generation RF front-ends. However, to achieve satisfactory RF MEMS device performance, it is often necessary to have an actuating circuitry to generate high direct current (DC) voltages for device actuation with low power consumption. In this study, the authors present an RF MEMS switch controller based on a switched-capacitor (SC) DC-DC converter in a 0.35 μm CMOS technology. In this design, novel design techniques for a higher output voltage and lower power consumption in a smaller die area are proposed. The authors demonstrate the design of the high-voltage (HV) SC DC-DC converter by using low-voltage transistors and address reliability issues in the design. Through the proposed design techniques, the SC DC-DC converter achieves more than 25% higher boosted voltage compared to converters that use HV transistors. The proposed design provides 40% power reduction through the charge recycling circuit. Moreover, the SC DC-DC converter achieves 45% smaller than the area of the conventional converter.

Effect of Die-Bonding Process on MEMS Device Performance: System-Level Modeling and Experimental Verification

This paper presents a distributed nodal method (DNM) for compact modeling of the package-device interaction of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). MEMS devices have movable structures that are sensitive to structural stresses and easily influenced by package structures and environmental parameters. Hence, it is necessary to include the packaged behavior of MEMS into a compact simulation tool with acceptable precision. The conventional nodal method is therefore modified to achieve this purpose. A node with distributed nodal quantities is defined to describe the distributed interactions among the device, package, and environmental temperature. Based on the definition, the related processes of element partition, nodal matrix formation, and element assembly have been demonstrated. The case of a die-bonded microbridge has been used as an example, since the microbridge is not only a typical MEMS structure but also is influenced easily by structural stresses. The DNM model is validated first by a finite-element method (FEM) simulation, then by two individual experiments, including the measurement of die warpage using a digital image correlation system and the detection of shifted natural frequencies of surface-micromachined bridges using a laser Doppler vibrometer system, both after die bonding. The FEM and test results agree with those evaluated by the model with a relative error of less than 10%. Stress alleviation of the test structure has been unintentionally achieved by die bonding, leading to relative shifts of 12%-26% and 19%-26% of the first and third natural frequencies of the microbridges. The packaged behavior also exhibits an evident distributed feature along the die surface as expected. Although, at current stage, the application of the DNM is still limited to static domain, it shows potential in developing hierarchical models of MEMS devices including the package.

Coupled package-device modeling for microelectromechanical systems

Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), by their nature as sensors and actuators, require application specific packaging. The package is the near environment of the MEMS device and hence has a direct effect on its thermal behavior, mechanical effects, environmental compatibility and contamination. Therefore, understanding the influence of the packaging on MEMS device performance is critical to a successfully coupled package-device co-design. Here, an automated package-device interaction simulator has been developed. The simulator uses separate finite element method models for both the package and the device analysis and ties the simulations together through parametric behavioral package models. This technique allows the generation of package model libraries and supports the co-design of application specific packaging and MEMS devices. In the current implementation, thermomechanical package models have been implemented. Experimental verification of the technique is demonstrated by the comparison of simulation results to the measured package strain data. Although MEMS device-package interactions are not the only systems that could benefit from this method, they are a significant application area, focused on here.