Final Report Summary - M&M´S (New Paradigms for MEMS & NEMS Integration)
Micro- and nanoelectromechanical system (MEMS and NEMS) components are vital for many industrial and consumer products such as airbag systems in cars and motion controls in mobile phones, and many of these MEMS and NEMS enabled applications have a large impact on European industry and society. However, the potential of MEMS and NEMS is being critically hampered by their dependence on integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing technologies. Most micro- and nano-manufacturing methods have been developed by the IC industry and are characterized by highly standardized manufacturing processes that are adapted for extremely large production volumes of more than 10.000 wafers per month. In contrast, the vast majority of MEMS and NEMS applications only demands production volumes of less than 100 wafers per month in combination with different non-standardized manufacturing and integration processes for each product. If a much wider variety of diverse and even low-volume MEMS and NEMS products shall be exploited, the semiconductor manufacturing paradigm has to be broken. In this project, we focus on frontier research targeting flexible and cost-efficient manufacturing of MEMS and NEMS. The following three research topics have been addressed, which has resulted in a number of key achievements:
(1) Wafer-Level Heterogeneous Integration for MEMS and NEMS, where we explored new and improved wafer-level heterogeneous integration technologies for MEMS and NEMS devices. Novel, high yield wafer bonding and transfer processes have been established for integrating ultra-thin silicon and graphene membranes on top of CMOS-based electronic circuits. Furthermore, this project led to the completely novel discovery of crack-defined nanogap electrodes, which show great potential for molecular electronics and tunnelling devices.
(2) Integration of Materials into MEMS Using High-Speed Wire Bonding Tools, where we explored new ways of integrating various types of wire materials into MEMS devices. Efficient processes for very high-aspect ratio through silicon and through glass vias, as well as various coils structures have been implemented. A novel, high-speed magnetic assembly method for TSV filling has been developed.
(3) Free-Form 3D Printing of Silicon Micro- and Nanostructures, where we explored entirely novel ways of implementing silicon MEMS and NEMS structures that can be arbitrarily shaped. The viability of a new 3D printing process for implementing silicon nanostructures has been demonstrated.
(1) Wafer-Level Heterogeneous Integration for MEMS and NEMS, where we explored new and improved wafer-level heterogeneous integration technologies for MEMS and NEMS devices. Novel, high yield wafer bonding and transfer processes have been established for integrating ultra-thin silicon and graphene membranes on top of CMOS-based electronic circuits. Furthermore, this project led to the completely novel discovery of crack-defined nanogap electrodes, which show great potential for molecular electronics and tunnelling devices.
(2) Integration of Materials into MEMS Using High-Speed Wire Bonding Tools, where we explored new ways of integrating various types of wire materials into MEMS devices. Efficient processes for very high-aspect ratio through silicon and through glass vias, as well as various coils structures have been implemented. A novel, high-speed magnetic assembly method for TSV filling has been developed.
(3) Free-Form 3D Printing of Silicon Micro- and Nanostructures, where we explored entirely novel ways of implementing silicon MEMS and NEMS structures that can be arbitrarily shaped. The viability of a new 3D printing process for implementing silicon nanostructures has been demonstrated.