@ttodorov: yes, people are investigating other materials besides silicon for MEMS, such as
silicon carbide, quartz, and even diamond (check out www.thindiamond.com)
Alissa M. Fitzgerald
This would appear to be a path to smaller device geometries and higher yields overcoming some of the physical limitations of silicon. Not exactly Moore's Law, but perhaps a migration path
Great presentations, thank you for archiving them. Good selections of content from the "Content Director" at Design News (though the sequence seems a bit off, the archiving remedies that), and wonderful to have presenters such as Dr. Fitzgerald and others ...
The whole concept about MEMS devices was very interested to me. I had heard about MEMS technology but not in the way of these sessions. Great presentation!
I would like to hear more about the setup and physical arrangements of the MEMS on the PCB, but it looks like we are going into that in the next few slides.
Just one note to people. If you want a digital interface: Pay attention to whether you are buying a SPI or a Two Wire (TWI, I2C) interface. I find the TWI easier to use on my particular controllers. See the Arduino website for C+ libraries and examples if you are just starting out. The issue with analog inputs for accelerometers etc is noise from adjacent leads on the ADC. It makes it tougher to ferret out small signals.
Thank you for the lectures. I'm trying myself to teach my students some basics on MEMS embedded into a microsystemsµcontrollers course. We use(d) JMBADGE from Freescale as evaluation/development kit. Any advise on making the MEMS part of the course more and more attractive would be greatly appreciated.
Alex, how do I reply to chat messages directly? The one you see a @Name in the begining?
Answer:
On your keyboard, press and hold down your shift key. While holding down the shift key, press and release the numeric 2 key at the top of your keyboard. Next, release the shift key and type the name of handle of the person you wish to address.
Well, thanks everyone for listening! I enjoyed teaching the series and answering your questions. Good luck with all of your exciting new MEMS sensor projects!
@Dr.Fitzgerald - thanks, it's been an interesting lecture. Since you mentioned that MEMS research is lagging about 20 yrs behind semiconductors - provided that electronic components went from many moving parts to less (potentiometers and variable capacitors vs digital potentiometers and capacitive touch solitions) together with minituarization, should we expect in 10-20 yrs that MEMS will be mostly fixed parts? Would that help with being so shock-sensitive and easy to destroy?
Just to clarify, that's a package that has the sensor and some oil sealed into it. The corrosive enviro squeezes the package, which squeezes the oil and sensor inside.
@vectorhappy: yes, there are buffering agents that can be placed in front of pressure sensors to protect them from corrosive/wet environments. A low modulus gel is most typical, or an oil-sealed package.
@Steven: Yes, MEMS for neural probes are being extensively investigated. U of Michigan is a leader in this field. I still consider them MEMS even though they are not moving b/c they are fabricated by MEMS techniques. Research is still being done on biocompatibility of silicon - check out research by Prof. Shuvo Roy at UCSF.
@ttodorov: yes, people are investigating other materials besides silicon for MEMS, such as silicon carbide, quartz, and even diamond (check out www.thindiamond.com)
Do the new micro-arrays of 'needles' for neural applications [which are believe are µmachined from Si] count as MEMS, even though no moving components that I am aware of?
Is Si by iteself biocompatible, or must the sensor be protected by parylene or similar.
A good upcoming conference to learn more about MEMS is Sensors Expo in Rosemont, IL (Chicago Area) June 5-7. There will be talks and a tradeshow floor for both MEMS and regular sensor companies.
For those wanting to play with MEMS sensors, some of the microcontroller demo now boards have them and include sample code. The ARM Cortex M4 boards form ST Micro and TI have 3 axis accelerometers. I'm sure there's more but those are the ones I've used.
Regarding references, I have not yet seen MEMS for Dummies or a MEMS Designer's Cookbook, but check with manufacturers, they are developing all sorts of Design Kits to make your job easier. (and so that you can buy lots of MEMS faster!)
Thanks Alissa and Alex. It was an interesting week with a lot of new information in an unfamiliar field. I really enjoyed using lunchtime for the sessions. See all next time.
The future of MEMS: making parts cheaper and easier for design engineers to use! I think some of the most fascinating and interesting applications will be in medicine and biotechnology.
Alex, how do I reply to chat messages directly? The one you see a @Name in the begining?
Answer:
On your keyboard, press and hold down your shift key. While holding down the shift key, press and release the numeric 2 key at the top of your keyboard. Next, release the shift key and type the name of handle of the person you wish to address.
Alissa - this has mostly been all new to me - hits me as "wicked cool stuff!" You're already familiar with all this - what MEMS have you seen (or is coming) that makes your eyes bug out and exclaim "wicked cool!" ?
Alternatives to MEMS: fiber optic fibers with various alternative cladding, such that signal analysis of pulse throughput can in fact indicate multiple-touch-detection, torsion, flexion, etc... maybe later.
As far as reliability is concerned, our sensors will operate for thousands of hours without fail. And the shock resistance is 1500G for .5ms, half sine.
KNOW MORE: On existent tests/uses of MEMS chaining so a micro effect can be combined for higher variation results, such as the use of micro solenoids for emulating muscle tissue.
I pretty much found it all fascinating - having lived through computers going from room-size to refrigerator-size to desktops to notebooks to phones more powerful than many desktop machines of just a few years back, it looks like the same is happening with MEMS - mind-boggling to think of where we'll get in a few years. (especially medical applications!)
The table can be enlarged on a laptop type mouse pad by touching it with 2 fingers and moving them apart. Some mice scroll wheels will also do the same thing.
@Alissa: is the possibility of using other matherials than silicone being investigated for MEMS production? As example, Graphene Oxide and Monooxide (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, web page article http://www.techthefuture.com/technology/accidental-discovery-advances-graphene-based-electronics/), but 200 times stronger than steel with all properties of insulators, conductors and semiconductors
I would like to hear a bit more on the physical principles gas sensors, magnetometer, flow sensors, etc. work on. Alissa described accelermoters earlier this week.
I would like to learn more about the interfaces needed for MEMS devices - what kind of hardware circuitry is needed, and what port/peripherals does the microcontroller need to have?
not currently using MEMS (other than in existing products - phone, game systems, etc) - would like to use them sometime soon, but most likely will just be a 'play' project
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