Laminate MEMS for Heterogeneous Integrated Systems
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Laminate MEMS for Heterogeneous Integrated Systems
G. P. Li and Mark Bachman Integrated Nanosystems Research Facility, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, The Henry Samueli School of Engineering, California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology University of California, Irvine California 92697, USA ABSTRACT Post semiconductor manufacturing processes (PSM), including packaging and printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturing are now capable of producing trace widths of a few micrometers, high aspect ratio vias, three-dimensional constructions, and highly integrated systems in a single small package. Such PSM technology can in principle be used to manufacture micro electromechanical systems (MEMS) for sensing and actuation applications. Although MEMS are traditionally produced using silicon processes, the broad array of manufacturing approaches available in the packaging industry, including lamination, lithography, etching, electroforming, machining, bonding, etc., and the large number of available materials such as polymers, ceramics, metals, etc., provides greater design freedom for producing functional microdevices. The results of such processes applied to fabricating small systems are heterogeneously integrated MEMS devices. Since lamination of stacked layers is a critical component of this process, we refer to these devices as “laminate MEMS.” In many cases laminate MEMS devices are more suited to their applications than their silicon counterparts, especially for applications such as biomedical, optical, and human computer interface. Furthermore, such microdevices can be built with a high degree of integration, prepackaged, and at low cost. Indeed, the PCB and packaging industries stand to benefit greatly by expanding their offerings beyond serving the semiconductor industry and developing their own devices and products. This paper illustrates that good quality MEMS devices can be manufactured using packaging style fabrication, particularly using stacks of laminates, and discusses some of the unique benefits of such devices. This laminate MEMS technology promises not only improved methods for manufacturing microdevices but also for heterogeneously integrating them with silicon microelectronics and other components into a single package. INTRODUCTION The unprecedented technology advancements in miniaturizing integrated circuits on silicon (SOC) and in integrating systems in a package (SIP) have demonstrated the impact that dimension scaling engineering in the semiconductor industry can have for communication, computing, and consumer electronics [1]. To add new functions other than electronic to
semiconductor devices, MEMS are often designed to perform electro-mechanical functions such as sensing or actuation. The use of silicon for MEMS microfabrication has its roots in the successes of the semiconductor industry. Early MEMS designers in the 1980’s looked to the semiconductor
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