Electrostatically actuated resonant microcantilever beam in CMOS technology for the detection of chemical weapons

The design, fabrication, and testing of a resonant cantilever beam in complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology is presented in this paper. The resonant cantilever beam is a gas-sensing device capable of monitoring hazardous vapors and gases at trace concentrations. The new design of the cantilever beam described here includes interdigitated fingers for electrostatic actuation and a piezoresistive Wheatstone bridge design to read out the deflection signal. The reference resistors of the Wheatstone bridge are fabricated on auxiliary beams that are immediately adjacent to the actuated device. The whole device is fabricated using a 0.6-/spl mu/m, three-metal, double-poly CMOS process, combined with subsequent micromachining steps. A custom polymer layer is applied to the surface of the microcantilever beam to enhance its sorptivity to a chemical nerve agent. Exposing the sensor with the nerve agent simulant dimethylmethylphosphonate (DMMP), provided a demonstrated detection at a concentration of 20 ppb or 0.1 mg/m/sup 3/. These initial promising results were attained with a relatively simple design, fabricated in standard CMOS, which could offer an inexpensive option for mass production of a miniature chemical detector, which contains on chip electronics integrated to the cantilever beam.     

Coupled determination of gravimetric and elastic effects on two resonant chemical sensors: love wave and microcantilever platforms

The objective of this paper is to couple theoretical and experimental results from microcantilevers and Love-wave acoustic devices in order to identify and separate mass loading effects from elastic effects. This is important in the perspective of sensing applications. For that, a thin-film polymer is deposited on both resonant platforms. It is demonstrated that microcantilevers are essentially mass sensitive. They allow one to determine the polymer layer thickness, which is validated by optical profilometry measurements. Then, taking into account this thickness, theoretical modeling and experimental measurements with Love-wave devices permit one to estimate an equivalent elastic shear modulus of the thin-film polymer at high frequency. Results are interesting if one is to fully understand and optimize (bio)chemical sensor responses.     

Dependence of GMR on NiFe layer thickness in high sensitive simple spin valve

The dependence of the giant magnetoresistance on Ni/sub 81/Fe/sub 19/ soft magnetic layer thickness is investigated experimentally for a simple spin valve with a top-pinned structure of Ta (6 nm)/Ni/sub 81/Fe/sub 19//Co/sub 90/Fe/sub 10/ (1 nm)/Cu (1.8 nm)/Co/sub 90/Fe/sub 10/ (3.5 nm)/Ir/sub 20/Mn/sub 80/ (8 nm)/Ta (6 nm). With Ni/sub 81/Fe/sub 19/ thickness increased from 6 nm to 7 nm, the magnetoresistance (MR) ratio decreases sharply from 8.34% to 3.34%, whereas it changes only slightly within the thickness ranges from 2-6 nm and from 7-12 nm, and larger MR ratios are obtained in the range from 2-6 nm. For a spin valve with an optimized thickness of Ir/sub 20/Mn/sub 80/ (11 nm) and top Ta (3 nm), the MR dependence is in accordance with the former structure when Ni/sub 81/Fe/sub 19/ thickness changes from 3.5 to 5.5 nm, and an optimized spin valve with 4.5-nm-thick Ni/sub 81/Fe/sub 19/ is obtained. This spin valve has a large MR ratio (9.15%), low coercive force (0.85 Oe), and high sensitivity, which makes it promising for applications.     

Study of viscoelastic effect on the frequency shift of microcantilever chemical sensors

Microcantilevers coated with a chemically sensitive layer are increasingly being used in chemical detection systems. The sensitive coating, often a polymer, absorbs specific molecules, which can be detected by monitoring the shift in the mechanical resonant frequency. Usually, the frequency shift resulting from molecular absorption is interpreted as a mass loading effect. However, mass loading is not the only effect that has an impact on the frequency shift; the viscoelastic properties of the sensitive coating also are affected by the sorption process. Sorption-induced modulus changes are typically difficult to characterize. However, it is known that the sorption of analyte molecules in a polymer coating results in the plasticization of the coating. In most cases, the polymer becomes more rubbery with increasing concentration of analyte molecules, i.e., the coating becomes softer with increasing loss modulus, and the storage modulus decreases. Using a new analytical model developed for the resonant frequency expression of a hybrid microcantilever (elastic base and viscoelastic layer), the effects of the modification of the storage and loss moduli of the sensitive layer on the resonant frequency are examined. The main conclusion of this analytical study is that, even if the sensitive coating moduli are small compared to the base cantilever's Young's modulus, the effect of the change in the viscoelastic coating properties could contribute significantly to the overall frequency shift (8-23% in the simulations depending on the coating thickness, with even higher contributions for other sets of problem parameters).     

三质体声共振混合机的动力学特性及其性能分析

为研究三质体声共振混合机的动力学特性,建立了三质体声共振混合机的动力学模型,进而分析了系统物理参数对动力学特性的影响,阐明了物料质量和阻尼变化对声共振混合机动力学响应的影响规律,提出了系统在共振频率附近工作的振幅控制策略。进一步分析了典型声共振混合机在额定载荷下的对地动载荷和所需激振力,并与额定载荷所需的最大推力进行了比较。结果表明,通过选择合理的系统物理参数,三质体声共振混合机在三阶共振频率附近工作,其振幅变化较平缓、负载质体和激振质体的运动相位相反,系统能够兼具能量转换率高、对地动载荷小且激振力小等优点。所得结论有助于进一步提高声共振混合机的工作性能和设计水平。     

Measurement of coating thickness by the eddy-current method

Basic problems associated with the design of eddy-current gauges for measuring the thickness of different coatings are discussed.Translated from Izmeritel'naya Tekhnika, No. 9, pp. 27–28, September, 1993.     

Effect of electrolyte composition on the coating thickness gauge fabrication precision

Translated from Izmeritel'naya Tekhnika, No. 11, pp. 26–27, November, 1991.     

Flexible ceramic-reinforced polyurethane composite coatings on synthetic fibres: Process of continuous liquid film coating and its influence on the coating thickness

A concept for the realisation of composite layers on the surface of synthetic fibres by continuous liquid film coating of spread roving or monofilaments with a slurry containing ceramic particles and a polymeric binder is successfully demonstrated. Polyamide 6 monofilaments were coated with alumina particles and a polyurethane elastomer based binder system to achieve higher abrasion resistance. Under frictional load, the coating is abraded in small units consisting of some particles and the surrounding polyurethane matrix, which predetermines it to be used as sacrificial layer. The slurries showed shear thinning behaviour. Increasing the content of the rheological agent (carboxymethylcellulose [CMC]) led to an exponential increase of the viscosity, which therefore can be tailored by varying the CMC content. An increase of fibre radius, slurry viscosity or withdrawal speed led to an increase of the coating thickness, which is in accordance to published results of Newtonian or non-Newtonian coating fluids.     

Effect of metal coating and residual stress on the resonant frequency of MEMS resonators

MEMS resonators are designed for a fixed resonant frequency. Therefore, any shift in the resonant frequency of the final fabricated structure can be a denting factor for its suitability towards a desired application. There are numerous factors which alter the designed resonant frequency of the fabricated resonator such as the metal layer deposited on top of the beam and the residual stresses present in the fabricated structure. While the metal coating, which acts as electrode, increases the stiffness and the effective mass of the composite structure, the residual stress increases or decreases the net stiffness if it is a tensile or compressive type respectively. In this paper, we investigate both these cases by taking two different structures, namely, the micro cantilever beam with gold layer deposited on its top surface and the MEMS gyroscope with residual stresses. First, we carry out experiments to characterize both these structures to find their resonant frequencies. Later, we analytically model those effects and compare them with the experimentally obtained values. Finally, it is found that the analytical models give an error of less than 10% with respect to the experimental results in both the cases.     

Effect of coating thickness on the deformation behaviour of diamond-like carbon-silicon system

The effect of coating thickness on the deformation behaviour of diamond-like carbon (DLC) coatings on silicon substrates was investigated. Following nanoindentation of a 0.6 µm thick DLC coating, the subsurface microstructures were characterized and the data was compared to prior studies on a similar, but thicker coating. Indentation resulted in localized plastic compression in the coating without any through-thickness cracking. It was shown that the discontinuities in the load-displacement curves appeared at lower loads for the thinner coating. Accordingly, the silicon substrate exhibited cracking, plastic deformation and phase transformation at significantly lower loads than in the case of the thicker coating. Further, the widths, parallel to the interface, over which slip and the phase transformation zone are spread out in the substrate, was found to increase with the thickness of the coating. The mechanism responsible for the first pop-in was found to change from phase transformation in uncoated silicon to dislocation nucleation in the presence of the coating.     

Dependence of the optoelectronic properties of Se-doped silicon on the thickness of dopant film

Se doped silicon is prepared by femtosecond-laser irradiation of Si coated with Si/Se bilayer films. The effects of Se film thickness on optical and electrical properties of Se doped silicon are studied. With the increase of the thickness of dopant film, the infrared absorptance increases significantly at wavelengths from 1100 to 2200 nm. At ?10 V bias, the responsivities at 1064 nm for samples prepared with Se film thicknesses of 50, 75, 100 and 125 nm are 0.310, 0.786, 0.911 and 1.22 A/W, respectively. This investigation demonstrates that the increase of doping concentration is beneficial to improve infrared absorption and photoresponse of Se doped silicon. This observation has potential to improve the property of Se doped silicon and facilitate its application in photoelectric devices.     

Dependence of the crystallization rate of vacuum-deposited amorphous antimony films on the film thickness

The crystallization rate of vacuum-deposited amorphous antimony (a-Sb) films was investigated as a function of the film thickness d. Experimental plots of the observed growth rate v against d^-1 for systems such as Sb/glass and Sb/Ge show that the relationship between v and d^-1 are convex towards the origin. Such a feature is well interpreted by a model in which

$\text{v=}\text{1}\text{d}\text{∫}\text{d}\text{0}\text{u}\text{d}\text{z}$

where u is the actual growth rate of the crystallite in the a-Sb film and z the distance from the film surface adjacent to the substrate. The quantity u is assumed to vary as follows: u = αzⁿ + u_s when 0 ? z ? d_s0, u = u_i when d_s0 ? z ? d ? d_v0 and u = β(d ? z)ⁿ + u_v, when d ? d_v0 ? z ? d where $\text{α =}\text{(u}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{? u}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>s</mtext>}}\text{)}\text{d}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>s</mtext><mtext>0</mtext>}}{}^{\mathrm{n}}$, $\text{β =}\text{(u}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{? u}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>v</mtext>}}\text{)}\text{d}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>v</mtext><mtext>0</mtext>}}{}^{\mathrm{n}}$, d_s0 and d_v0 are thickness of surface regions near the substrate and the vacuum respectively, u_i is the growth rate inside the film, u_s and u_v are the rates at surfaces adjacent to the substrate and the vacuum respectively and n an adjustable numerical parameter. As a typical example, for the Sb/Ge system at 30°C, u_i, u_s and u_v are estimated to be 139 μm s^-1, 25.4 μm s^-1 and 0.2 μm s^-1 respectively and d_s0 and d_v0 to be 133 Å and 143 Å respectively with n = 3.     

Role of the resistive layer on the performances of 2D a-Si:H thin film position sensitive detectors

The aim of this work is to present an analytical model which can to interpret the role of the collecting resistive layer on the static performances exhibited by 2D amorphous silicon hydrogenated p–i–n thin film position sensitive detectors. In addition, experimental results concerning the device linearity and spatial resolution are presented and checked against the predicted values of the analytical model proposed.     

包埋法制备TiC内涂层的影响因素分析

用包埋法制备了碳/碳复合材料TiC内涂层.对制备涂层的影响因素进行了分析.最终确定的制备条件为制备温度2173K、保温时间为2h、Ti和C的配比为3:1.     

Dependence of the reflectance of a multilayer reflector on the thickness of the outer layer

At nonnormal incidence, the radiant reflectance of a highly reflecting multilayer coating strongly depends on the thickness of the outer layer.     

Dependence of transport parameters on thickness in polycrystalline CdS thin films

Polycrystalline CdS thin films of different thickness heavily doped with indium were deposited onto glass substrates by vacuum evaporation of CdS and indium. The films were characterized by Hall measurements and scanning electron microscopy observations. The variations in conductivity, carrier concentration and mobility with the film thickness are similar to the dependence of the grain size on the thickness. The deduced dependences of the electrical parameters on the grain size show the trends characteristic of polycrystalline semiconductor which are explained by the boundary carrier trapping theory. Thus, the polycrystalline origin of the thickness dependence of the electrical parameters in heavily doped CdS films is concluded.