Title :
MEMS reliability in a vibration environment
Author :
Tanner, Danelle M. ; Walraven, Jeremy A. ; Helgesen, Karen S. ; Irwin, Lloyd W. ; Gregory, Danny L. ; Stake, John R. ; Smith, Noiman F.
Author_Institution :
Sandia Nat. Labs., Albuquerque, NM, USA
Abstract :
MicroElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS) were subjected to a vibration environment that had a peak acceleration of 120 g and spanned frequencies from 20 to 2000 Hz. The device chosen for this test was a surface-micromachined microengine because it possesses many elements (springs, gears, rubbing surfaces) that may be susceptible to vibration. The microengines were unpowered during the test. We observed 2 vibration-related failures and 3 electrical failures out of 22 microengines tested. Surprisingly, the electrical failures also arose in four microengines in our control group indicating that they were not vibration related. Failure analysis revealed that the electrical failures were due to shorting of stationary comb fingers to the ground plane
Keywords :
electrostatic actuators; electrostatic motors; failure analysis; reliability; vibrations; 20 to 2000 Hz; MEMS reliability; electrical failure; electrostatic microactuator; failure analysis; gears; ground plane; microelectromechanical systems; peak acceleration; rubbing surfaces; shorting; springs; stationary comb fingers; surface-micromachined microengine; vibration environment; vibration-related failure; Failure analysis; Fingers; Frequency; Gears; Life estimation; Microelectromechanical systems; Micromechanical devices; Springs; System testing; Vibration control;
Conference_Titel :
Reliability Physics Symposium, 2000. Proceedings. 38th Annual 2000 IEEE International
Conference_Location :
San Jose, CA
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-5860-0
DOI :
10.1109/RELPHY.2000.843904
