Design for reliability of micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS)

This paper describes a proposal to build Internet-based educational materials that describe the fundamental failure mechanisms in micro-electromechanical systems and their packaging, and provide techniques for using this information to design MEMS and microsystems that are less susceptible to failure by those mechanisms. The MEMS device, the structure of the package, and the electrical, optical, mechanical, and fluidic interconnections are addressed. The Internet learning modules will include a mixture of lecture materials (in text format with video/voice over), discussion/homework problems, additional reading, and online simulation tools. The multimedia course materials will be available in Web-based format to universities and companies around the world via a central hosting organization, and will be designed in such a way as to facilitate feedback and the contribution of additional materials. This course is a natural follow-on to a course supported last year by the IEEE/PRC on the Design for Reliability of Electronic Systems (McCluskey, Proc. 51st Electron. Comp. and Techn. Conf., pp. 397-400, 2001). The Internet learning modules created in this project will supplement those developed for electronic systems and will take advantage of material developed for courses and lectures on MEMS and MEMS packaging that have previously been offered at the University of Maryland.