The prediction of stiction failures in MEMS

The surface interaction energy of sticking surfaces has been the subject of considerable modeling and can be experimentally investigated. Much less is currently known about the influence that a certain surface interaction energy (distribution) has on the reliability of MEMS devices. The only treatises to date are purely "black box" statistical methods. In this paper, we discuss a comprehensive model that describes many stiction failure situations. For the first time, the surface interaction properties are linked directly to a reliability function.