Development of a novel thermal switch through CMOS MEMS fabrication process

You-Liang Lai; Lei-Chun Chou; Ying-Zong Juang; Hann-Huei Tsai; Sheng-Chieh Huang; Jin-Chern Chiou

doi:10.1117/12.874420

14 February 2011 Development of a novel thermal switch through CMOS MEMS fabrication process

You-Liang Lai, Lei-Chun Chou, Ying-Zong Juang, Hann-Huei Tsai, Sheng-Chieh Huang, Jin-Chern Chiou

Proceedings Volume 7926, Micromachining and Microfabrication Process Technology XVI; 79260J (2011) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.874420
Event: SPIE MOEMS-MEMS, 2011, San Francisco, California, United States

Abstract

This paper focuses on implementing two novel CMOS-MEMS type switches: buckling type and thermal type, by using commercially available TSMC 0.35 μm two-poly four-metal (2P4M) CMOS process. There are two novel designs in these two type switches: first, the soft contact structure with post-processing fabrication; second, using residual stress to achieve large structural deformation in buckling type and thermal type switches. To create the soft contact structure, residual gradient stress effect has been utilized to make bending-down curvatures. According to the experiments, the layer Metal1 has the largest negative residual gradient stress effect that can achieve the largest negative deflection in z-axis. Because the structure will bend down after post-processing release, larger lateral contact area are set up to gain the lower contact miss ability. In the post-processing fabrication, 0.3μm thickness gold will be deposited on the contact tips. Due to the essence of gold, comparing with aluminum, has no oxidation issue, gold also has the advantage of higher conductivity to reduce the electrical power loss. In the buckling type design, the switch uses residual stress to achieve lateral buckling effect to solve long distance problem. In the thermal type design, this paper design a folded-flexure with the electro-thermal excitation to turn the switch on or off. In the prototype, the device size is 500 μm x 400 μm and the gap between two contact pads is 9 μm in off-state. on the experimental results, the switch can work stably at 3 volts, and the displacement of the thermal type switch can achieve 2.7μm, which is sufficient for the mechanism of switching-on or switching-off.

Citation Download Citation

You-Liang Lai, Lei-Chun Chou, Ying-Zong Juang, Hann-Huei Tsai, Sheng-Chieh Huang, and Jin-Chern Chiou "Development of a novel thermal switch through CMOS MEMS fabrication process", Proc. SPIE 7926, Micromachining and Microfabrication Process Technology XVI, 79260J (14 February 2011); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.874420

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available