MEMS Assist Microdetectives

Bill Schweber, EDN magazine -- Design News, September 26, 2005

MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) have the versatility to solve specialized problems, and the demonstration of that versatility continues at Sandia National Laboratories. Researchers there have devised an advanced gas-sampling procedure using picoliters of gas to check whether the atmosphere inside a MEMS device is pure.

A small commercial valve crushes a tiny object—the MEMS chip under investigation—and feeds the released gases to a custom-built intake manifold. Because the test mechanism requires only picoliters of gas, it can re-evaluate dozens of times, using bursts of puffs of gas that it receives. This repetition increases the final test's validity due to the repeated sampling and testing during a 20-minute period, compared with the uncertain validity of a single test and result.

For more information on MEMS, check out the links below:

Scandia's gas-sampling procedure:
http://rbi.ims.ca/4397-529

Scandia National Laboratories:
http://rbi.ims.ca/4397-530

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