Suspended Microstructures Research Articles

In-sensor human gait analysis with machine learning in a wearable microfabricated accelerometer

In-sensor computing could become a fundamentally new approach to the deployment of machine learning in small devices that must operate securely with limited energy resources, such as wearable medical devices and devices for the Internet of Things. Progress in this field has been slowed by the difficulty to find appropriate computing devices that operate using physical degrees of freedom that can be coupled directly to degrees of freedom that perform sensing. Here we leverage reservoir computing as a natural framework to do machine learning with the degrees of freedom of a physical system, to show that a micro-electromechanical system can implement computing and the sensing of accelerations by coupling the displacement of suspended microstructures. We present a complete wearable system that can be attached to the foot to identify the gait patterns of human subjects in real-time. The computing efficiency and the power consumption of this in-sensor computing system is then compared to a conventional system with a separate sensor and digital computer. For similar computing capabilities, a much better power efficiency can be expected for the highly-integrated in-sensor computing devices, thus providing a path for the ubiquitous deployment of machine learning in edge computing devices.

Solution‐Processed Selective Area Homoepitaxial Growth of Suspended MAPbX3(X = Cl, Br) Perovskite Micro‐Arrays

AbstractSuspended nano/microstructures on semiconductor surfaces that can manage light are attractive for various on‐chip and efficiency‐enhanced optoelectronics. Hybrid halide perovskites have shown considerable potential for optoelectronic and photonic applications. However, the ionic and soft lattices of perovskites are sensitive to polar solvents, photons, and heat, limiting the post‐processing of suspended microstructures. Herein, a solution‐processed selective area homoepitaxial growth (SAEG) method is introduced to create well‐ordered, suspended microstructure arrays on the surface of MAPbX3(X = Br, Cl) single‐crystalline thin films. The suspended micro‐arrays exhibit single crystalline structures and 11.2 fold photoluminescence enhancement compared to the thin‐film substrates. The success of SAEG lies in the making use of perovskite supersaturated HX aqueous solutions that not only repair surface defects induced by lithography but also satisfy homoepitaxial growth kinetics. This study paves a pathway for the fabrication of cost‐effective perovskite surface‐suspended microstructures for efficiency‐enhanced and on‐chip optoelectronic devices.

Localized suspended micro-heater structure using dry etching for sensing and actuation application

In this paper, we present the results of a study encompassing design, simulation and fabrication of suspended meander micro-structure, which will form the basis of different types of sensors in various applications such as vacuum gauge, mass flow sensor, and thermal accelerometer. In this research we compare the released approach of suspended structure and unreleased approach of design of micro-heater to provide guidance to optimize and choose the fabrication approach for localized heating or substrate heating. The finite element modeling carried out using COMSOL Multiphysics predicts electrical and thermal behavior of Joules heating effect in the stationery and time-dependent study with the tolerance of <8 %. The material selected in the fabrication process was LPCVD silicon nitride which can provide high thermal stability and high mechanical strength. The device is fabricated using a dry etching technique with very few steps. Further by characterizing these devices, we demonstrate experimentally that the suspended microstructure with released approach is able to heat upto the temperature of 440 °C at the power consumption of only 36 mW with the response time of only about 1 ms. This “fully released” miniaturized meander structure without any intermittent support leads to fast response, high sensitivity and low power consumption.

Performance of a Helical Microswimmer Traversing a Discrete Viscoelastic Network with Dynamic Remodeling

Microorganisms often navigate a complex environment composed of a viscous fluid with suspended microstructures such as elastic polymers and filamentous networks. These microstructures can have similar length scales to the microorganisms, leading to complex swimming dynamics. Some microorganisms secrete enzymes that dynamically change the elastic properties of the viscoelastic networks through which they move. In addition to biological organisms, microrobots have been engineered with the goals of mucin gel penetration or dissolving blood clots. In order to gain insight into the coupling between swimming performance and network remodeling, we used a regularized Stokeslet boundary element method to compute the motion of a microswimmer consisting of a rotating spherical body and counter-rotating helical flagellum. The viscoelastic network is represented by a network of points connected by virtual elastic linkages immersed in a viscous fluid. Here, we model the enzymatic dissolution of the network by bacteria or microrobots by dynamically breaking elastic linkages when the cell body of the swimmer falls within a given distance from the link. We investigate the swimming performance of the microbes as they penetrate and move through networks of different material properties, and also examine the effect of network remodeling.

Enabling a novel approach to a controlled fabrication of 1D crystalline nanowires on suspended microstructures of arbitrary geometries using two direct-writing technologies

Recent progresses in additive manufacturing have inspired new technologies, such as direct laser writing technique, based on two-photon polymerization (2 PP), which complements and further enriches the nanofabrication tools portfolio. In this work, we combine 2 PP and our mask-free scanning probe assisted ‘direct-write patterning’ (DWP) method to allow for: a) the fabrication of micro-bridge structures with sub-micrometer resolution, b) selective synthesis of crystalline ZnO nanowires at predefined locations, respectively. This synergistic approach enables cantilever probe patterning of catalysts directly on suspended micro-bridges for in-situ CVD growth of nanoscale material, in a templated manner. The study reported here represents the first proof-of-concept experiments demonstrating versatile and scalable methodology, which can be applied and straightforwardly extended to grow a variety of other nanomaterials, in a controlled and selective fashion, on freestanding micro/nanoscale structures, whose size and geometry can be conveniently varied via templating of sacrificial 2 PP polymeric scaffolds. Finally, the demonstration of the possibility to integrate this new approach with the conventional lithography techniques provides a step forward to the development of the novel class of hybrid polymer-silicon-1D or -2D materials, and systems. The quality of the produced ZnO nanowire assemblies was assessed using several physical characterization methods.

Non-classical mechanical states guided in a phononic waveguide

The ability to create, manipulate and detect non-classical states of light has been key for many recent achievements in quantum physics and for developing quantum technologies. Achieving the same level of control over phonons, the quanta of vibrations, could have a similar impact, in particular on the fields of quantum sensing and quantum information processing. Here we present a crucial step towards this level of control and realize a single-mode waveguide for individual phonons in a suspended silicon microstructure. We use a cavity–waveguide architecture, where the cavity is used as a source and detector for the mechanical excitations while the waveguide has a free-standing end to reflect the phonons. This enables us to observe multiple round trips of phonons between the source and the reflector. The long mechanical lifetime of almost 100 μs demonstrates the possibility of nearly lossless transmission of single phonons over, in principle, tens of centimetres. Our experiment demonstrates full on-chip control over travelling single phonons strongly confined in the directions transverse to the propagation axis, potentially enabling a time-encoded multimode quantum memory at telecommunications wavelength and advanced quantum acoustics experiments. Non-classical vibrations are generated and transmitted along a mechanical waveguide, providing a platform for distributing quantum information and realizing hybrid quantum devices using phonons in a solid-state system.

3D-Printed Complex Microstructures with a Self-Sacrificial Structure Enabled by Grayscale Polymerization and Ultrasonic Treatment.

Complex three-dimensional (3D) microstructures are attracting more and more attention in many applications such as microelectromechanical systems, biomedical engineering, new materials, new energy, environmental protection, and wearable electronics. However, fabricating complex 3D microstructures by 3D printing techniques, especially those with long suspended structures, needs to introduce additional supporting structures, which are difficult to be removed. Here, we propose a simple method in which the supporting structures can be easily removed by optimizing their size and the grayscale value working with ultrasonic treatment in ethanol solution. The 3D microstructures and the supporting structures made of the same insoluble materials are fabricated simultaneously by using a projection microstereolithography system with a dynamic mask. The results demonstrate that the supporting structures play a key role in the fabrication of the long suspended structures while they can be easily removed. The removal time decreases with the increase in the height of the supporting microstructures, and the breaking force and shearing force of the supporting structures increase with the increase in their grayscale and the diameter. In addition, theory and the multiphysics simulation validate that the stress concentration at the top and the bottom of the supporting structures due to the cavitation from ultrasonic vibration dominates the removal of the supporting structures. Finally, a tree-like structure is precisely fabricated by using our method. The present study provides a new way for the removal of the supporting structures for 3D printed suspended microstructures.

Conventional surface micromachining process for the fabrication of a linear optical phased array based on piston micromirrors

Micro electromechanical system (MEMS) based optical phased array (OPA) technology generally demands narrow and tightly spaced suspended microstructures with high-aspect-ratio in the lateral dimensions. This paper presents an one dimensional OPA system which is fabricated using the standard PolyMUMPs process, leading to a low-cost, simplified and commercially accessible surface micromachining technique for the OPA technology. The proposed OPA device utilizes an array of metal-coated silicon micromirrors with high-aspect-ratio structures which act as optical phase shifters. Each micromirror along the array is individually actuated by an electrostatic parallel plate micro-actuator made of a micro-cantilever beam positioned above a fixed electrode. The field of view obtained by the device is measured as 4.76° which is comparable to those by the previous MEMS based OPA devices fabricated using custom-run and complex surface micromachining processes. The OPA device has a response time of 6.5 µs and an out of plane actuation stroke of 0.16 µm at a bias voltage of 55 V. The magnitude of the out of plane displacement by the phase shifters is equal to one-quarter of the laser wavelength (650 nm) used which leads to the desired optical phase shift of radian.

Suspended highly 3D interdigitated carbon microelectrodes

3D interdigitated pyrolytic carbon microelectrodes (3D IDE) with high complexity and interconnectivity were fabricated taking advantage of suspended interdigitated microstructures. A novel fabrication method for a 3D interdigitated polymer precursor template was developed based on a dual photoresist process including multiple UV exposures at two different wavelengths. The precursor structures were subsequently pyrolyzed at 1100°C for 1 h in N2 environment to obtain 3D interdigitated carbon microelectrodes. Different 3D electrode designs were fabricated and the electrochemical performance was evaluated by cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). 3D IDE with smaller structural dimensions displayed ultra-microelectrode (UME)-like behavior with a sigmoidal shape of the cyclic voltammograms (CV) and the absence of the linear diffusion regime in EIS. Furthermore, the 3D IDE displayed 2-fold higher peak currents in CV and significantly reduced charge transfer resistance compared to 2D IDE.

Fabrication of Germanium Tin Microstructures Through Inductively Coupled Plasma Dry Etching

Germanium tin (GeSn) with a Sn content of >12% has a great potential for optoelectronic devices due to its direct bandgap property. In this work, the anisotropic etching of GeSn with Sn content of 12.5% and selective etching of Ge over GeSn were explored by inductively couple plasma (ICP) dry etching to obtain various microstructures. Through adding oxygen into chlorine and argon and adjusting the process pressure, the anisotropic etching of GeSn was optimized with an ideal sidewall angle of 89o. The optimized process is compatible with both positive and negative resists. By altering the ICP power, Ge etching recipes with low and high etching rates were developed, which are favorable for fabricating GeSn nano- and micro-structures, respectively. An etching selectivity of >126 for Ge over GeSn with Sn content of >10% can be achieved. With the optimized dry etching recipes, suspended GeSn microribbons and microdisks were realized. Ultimately, the suspended GeSn microstructures were transferred onto 40-nm-thick ZrO2 on p+-Si to form a GeSn-on-insulator (GeSnOI) substrate. For a fabricated 45-nm-thick Ge0.875Sn0.125OI back-gated transistor, the subthreshold swing (SS) of 240 mV/dec is reasonably low for a non-optimized device, suggesting that the explored dry etching methods are promising for device processing.

Nanomechanical Sensors as a Tool for Bacteria Detection and Antibiotic Susceptibility Testing

Nanomechanical biosensors refers to a subfamily of micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) consisting in movable suspended microstructures, able to convert biological processes into measurable mechanical motion. Owing to this, nanomechanical biosensors have become a promising technology in the way to detect and manage bacterial pathogens with improved effectiveness. The precise treatment of an infection relies on its early diagnosis; however, the current standard culture-based methods for bacteria detection and antibiotic susceptibility testing involve long protocols and are labor intensive. Thanks to its high sensitivity, fast response, and high throughput capability, the nanomechanical technology holds great potential for overcoming some of the limitations of conventional methods. This review aims to provide a perspective of the diverse transducer structures, working principles and detection strategies of nanomechanical sensors for bacteria detection and antibiotic susceptibility testing. Their performance in terms of sensitivity and operation time is compared with standard methods currently used in clinical microbiology laboratories. Besides, commercial systems already developed and challenges in the way to reach real sensing application beyond the research environment are discussed.

Fabrication and design rules of three dimensional pyrolytic carbon suspended microstructures

Fabrication of suspended pyrolytic carbon 3D-microstructures from SU–8 was studied in variable pyrolysis temperatures. The dimensions of suspended parts were from 3 µm to 1500 µm in length with one to four anchor points. The pyrolysis temperatures were 800 °C to 1100 °C, and the resulting pyrolysed carbon structures were analyzed in terms of shrinkage, surface roughness, electrical resistivity and carbon bond type. The structural stability of the suspended structures is strongly dependent on the number of anchor points. The successful parameter range, structure design rules and the common failure mechanisms are discussed. The temperature dependency on material properties is studied and analyzed. We observed changes in three stages of the pyrolysis process that impact on the final structural shape and stability.

Local tuning of WS2 photoluminescence using polymeric micro-actuators in a monolithic van der Waals heterostructure

The control of the local strain profile in 2D materials offers an invaluable tool for tailoring the electronic and photonic properties of solid-state devices. In this paper, we demonstrate a local engineering of the exciton photoluminescence (PL) energy of monolayer tungsten disulfide (WS2) by means of strain. We apply a local uniaxial stress to WS2 by exploiting electron-beam patterned and actuated polymeric micrometric artificial muscles (MAMs), which we implement onto monolithic synthetic WS2/graphene heterostructures. We show that MAMs are able to induce an in-plane stress to the top WS2 layer of the van der Waals heterostructure and that the latter can slide on the graphene underneath with negligible friction. As a proof of concept for the local strain-induced PL shift experiments, we exploit a two-MAM configuration in order to apply uniaxial tensile stress on well-defined micrometric regions of WS2. Remarkably, our architecture does not require the adoption of fragile suspended microstructures. We observe a spatial modulation of the excitonic PL energy of the WS2 monolayers under stress, which agrees with the expected strain profile and attains a maximum redshift of about 40 meV at the maximum strain intensity point. After the actuation, a time-dependent PL blueshift is observed in agreement with the viscoelastic properties of the polymeric MAMs. Our approach enables inducing local and arbitrary deformation profiles and circumvents some key limitations and technical challenges of alternative strain engineering methods requiring the 2D material transfer and production of suspended membranes.

Locally Strained Ge/SOI Structures with an Improved Heat Sink as an Active Medium for Silicon Optoelectronics

The results on the formation of locally strained Ge microstructures on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrates and investigation of their optical properties are presented. Suspended Ge structures are formed by optical lithography and plasmachemical and selective chemical etching using the “stress concentration” approach. To provide a heat sink from Ge microstructures, their formation scheme is modified so as to provide the mechanical contact of a part of the suspended microstructure with lower-lying layers. To implement this scheme, SOI substrates with a thin upper Si layer 100 nm in thickness are used. It is shown using the measurements of Raman spectra depending on the pumping power that local heating in such structures decreases. Measurements of the microphotoluminescence spectra show a considerable increase in the signal intensity from strained regions of Ge microstructures as well as the possibility of increasing the maximal optical pumping power (not leading to irreversible changes) for microstructures, in which the mechanical contact of the strained part with lower-lying layers is provided, when compared with suspended structures.

Fabrication of arbitrary three-dimensional suspended hollow microstructures in transparent fused silica glass

Fused silica glass is the preferred material for applications which require long-term chemical and mechanical stability as well as excellent optical properties. The manufacturing of complex hollow microstructures within transparent fused silica glass is of particular interest for, among others, the miniaturization of chemical synthesis towards more versatile, configurable and environmentally friendly flow-through chemistry as well as high-quality optical waveguides or capillaries. However, microstructuring of such complex three-dimensional structures in glass has proven evasive due to its high thermal and chemical stability as well as mechanical hardness. Here we present an approach for the generation of hollow microstructures in fused silica glass with high precision and freedom of three-dimensional designs. The process combines the concept of sacrificial template replication with a room-temperature molding process for fused silica glass. The fabricated glass chips are versatile tools for, among other, the advance of miniaturization in chemical synthesis on chip.

New Analytical Capacitance Modeling of the Perforated Switch Considering the Fringing Effect

Movable suspended microstructures are common features of sensors and devices in the field of micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS). This paper addresses the study of approach to model the capacitance for the crab-type meander-based RF MEMS shunt switch with etching holes on the beam. The presented paper evaluates the parallel-plate capacitance and fringing-field capacitance caused by the etching holes on the beam and introduces empirical formulae. From the literature study, an accurate empirical formula is presented. The capacitance involves a parallel plate and a fringing field. The parallel-plate capacitance term is proposed by the authors of this work; the fringing-field capacitance term is adopted from previous work. The proposed accurate empirical capacitance formulae are derived by curve fitting the simulated values through the commercially available FEM solver. The two existing benchmark models of fringing-field capacitance are used to modify the perforated MEMS switch to obtain the proposed formula. With the existing models and presented formula, the capacitances are computed for a wide range of dimensions; the simulated results of the presented formula are validated with the calculated results. The deviation of the presented formula has an error estimation of ±0.1%. The variation of the capacitance with different deictic thicknesses and errors is estimated and analyzed for the presented formula. The Mejis model is found to be satisfactory for a lower air gap and a 1-μm-thick beam. The Yang's model is sufficient for a higher air gap and a large number of etching holes. The proposed formulae are good for the ligament efficiency μ ≤ 0.5, with thickness >1 μm, and the deviation of error estimation is within ±5%.

A comparative study of selective dry and wet etching of germanium–tin (Ge1−xSnx) on germanium

A comparative study of selective dry and wet etching methods for germanium–tin (Ge1−xSnx) alloys (3.5% < x < 7.7%) and germanium (Ge) is carried out. Both etching methods are optimized from the perspectives of selectivity and morphology, and then compared. A special behavior of the selective dry etching process is discovered and explained, whereby the selectivity has a dramatic increase to as high as 336 when the Sn concentration is above 6%. Different morphologies of suspended microstructures fabricated by different etching methods are investigated. Comparative study shows that the selective dry etching is a better choice for high Sn concentration GeSn (above 7%) against Ge to have better morphology, selectivity and verticality. While for low Sn concentration GeSn (below 6%), wet etching is a better way to fabricate a suspended GeSn microstructure on Ge. This work provides a comparative understanding of both methods of selective etching for GeSn. This comparative understanding is expected to be applied in the processing of next generation electronic and photonic devices.

Improved isolation RF MEMS switch with post release ashing

RF MEMS switches have moving microstructures which are realized either by dry release method or by wet releasing process. In dry release process, suspended bridges gets curled up due to high process temperature while in wet release method, surface of the released devices is get contaminated which affects the final performance of the device. In this paper, a mixed release process of wet and dry is presented to release the stiction free suspended microstructures. Contamination from the devices is removed by plasma cleaning. Isolation of the device under test has been improved to 22 from 15 dB after plasma exposure.

Abnormal strain in suspended GeSn microstructures

A suspended GeSn microstructure is realized by a two-step selective wet etching technique with the aim of fully relaxing the compressive strain, promoting the indirect to direct bandgap transition and improving the optical property of GeSn thin films grown on Ge. The compressive strain was found efficiently relaxed, and even unexpected large tensile strain was displayed on regions of the microstructure by micro-Raman spectroscopy. Residual Ge patches under the suspended GeSn microstructure were found by scanning electron microscopy and proved to be the origin of the tensile strain by finite element method simulations. The tensile strain on the surface is beneficial for direct bandgap conversion and carrier accumulation. Significant enhancement of photoluminescence was obtained in the GeSn microstructures than the original thin film.

Electrostatically driven long‐microbeams for low‐frequency applications

This Letter presents the design, fabrication and characterisation of an array of electrostatically actuated clamped-clamped microbeams. A large bottom actuation electrode and long beams with lengths ranging from 1 to 3.4 mm are the major features of the present device. The novelty of this Letter lies in the realisation of suspended and undeformed microstructures by controlling the process-induced stress during the fabrication process. This has been achieved by compensating the influence of the compressive and tensile stress components of the different deposited layers, resulting in ultralong beams with a relatively straight mechanical profile and an aspect ratio of ~1:3400 of vertical deflection to the beam length. For the first time, ultralong microbeams of tantalum have been actuated electrostatically with AC and DC driving voltages to drive them into resonance and characterise their resonant frequencies. The lowest resonant frequency of 1.4 kHz is obtained for a 3.4 mm-long beam. The shift of the resonant frequency due to the effect of different DC biasing has been investigated experimentally. A spring softening effect has been induced through electrostatic tuning. A downward shift in the resonant frequency to 35,000 ppm for DC bias voltages increasing from 1 to 5 V has been demonstrated.