EECS 414 COURSE INFORMATION

SAMPLE SYLLABUS

Instructor:
Professor Euisik Yoon, Rm. 2405 EECS Building, Tel: (734) 615-4469
e-mail address: esyoon@umich.edu
Office Hours: TBA

Teaching Assistant:

Lectures: Tuesdays and Thursdays: 1:30-3:00pm, room 165 Chrysler Building Recitation:
Wednesdays: 1:30-2:30pm, room 165 Chrysler Building

Course Description:
Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) are miniature devices (with micron size
tolerances) that are created using various techniques including many similar to those used to manufacture
integrated circuits, and are capable of performing many tasks and functions that involve mechanical,
electrical, optical, fluidic, and other types of signals. We live in and interact with a non-electronic
world, while computers and communication systems that dominate our daily lives today are electronic
systems. Sensors and actuators allow us to interface our electronic systems to the non-electronic world.
They provide analog information on the system being monitored through signal conditioning circuits to a
microprocessor-based controller. The processor interprets the information, makes appropriate decisions
(perhaps in conjunction with higher level control), and implements those decisions via the actuators.
Sensors and actuators have been traditionally the weakest link in the development of most
next-generation instrumentation and control systems. Where sensors exist at all, they are frequently
unreliable, rarely attain an accuracy of 8 bits, and may cost more than the processor. They are usually
very large in size and impose significant challenges in terms of packaging of the entire system. Only in
the past few years has this situation begun to change with the emergence of solid-state sensors that are
implemented using integrated circuit fabrication technologies. MEMS and Integrated Microsystems are
increasingly finding applications in many areas including automotive, health care, industrial processing,
environmental monitoring, biomedical systems, chemical analysis, energy sources, telecommunication,
aerospace systems, consumer appliances, and many others.

This course introduces students to this rapidly emerging, multi-disciplinary, and exciting field. It
will teach fundamentals of micromachining and microfabrication techniques, including planar thin-film
process technologies, photolithographic techniques, deposition and etching techniques, and the other
technologies that are central to MEMS fabrication. A designer of MEMS requires knowledge and
expertise across several different disciplines. Therefore, this course will pay special attention to
teaching of fundamentals necessary for the design and analysis of devices and systems in mechanical,
electrical, fluidic, and thermal energy/signal domains, and will teach basic techniques for multi-domain
analysis (e.g., electromechanical, electrothermal). Fundamentals of sensing and transduction mechanisms
(i.e. conversion of nonelectronic signals to electronic signals), including capacitive and piezoresistive
techniques, and design and analysis of micromachined miniature sensors and actuators using these
techniques will be covered. Many examples of existing devices and their applications will be reviewed.
Web Site:

This course is being offered as a multi-institutional course and is available through the web.
Students will have access, on-demand, to all lecture materials, assignments, etc. over the internet via
video streaming. For access to all course materials and taped lectures, you need an account on the
course website. The course website is available through the UM CTools service:

https://ctools.umich.edu/portal/site/!gateway

I have to assign an account for all registered students. Those who are officially registered will
automatically have an account.

Prerequisites:
This course is intended for undergraduate seniors and first year-graduate students, and is the first
in a series of five MEMS courses offered as part of a comprehensive MEMS educational program
developed by the NSF Engineering Research Center in Wireless Integrated Microsystems (NSF ERC for
WIMS, http://www.eecs.umich.edu/WIMS). It is an introductory course designed for those students
who are not familiar with MEMS, microfabrication technologies, integrated circuits, or non-electrical
devices and systems. Therefore, the course pre-requisites are selected to allow students from MANY
engineering or science disciplines, including mechanical, electrical, chemical, aerospace, biomedical, and
materials engineering to take the course. The course is organized into lectures and recitations
(discussions). The lectures present material that ALL students need to learn. Recitations are intended to
teach students from different disciplines in areas where they may need additional training, including
fundamentals and basics of heat transfer, mechanics (statics, and dynamics) basics of RLC circuit
analysis, analysis of second-order systems in the frequency domain, etc.
The following academic background is required for this course:
1 College math and calculus, and differential equations
2 Basic college-level physics and chemistry

Textbook:

Required: I do not require a textbook in this course and will utilize my own notes, handouts, etc.
Handouts and other supplementary material are provided through the web. There are several textbooks
which you can use for reference and they are on reserve at the Duderstadt Center:

Reference textbooks:
1) Chang Liu, Foundations of MEMS, Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2006 2) Gregory T.A. Kovacs,
Micromachined Transducers Sourcebook, McGraw Hill, 1998 3) Stephen D. Senturia, Microsystem
Design, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2000 4) S. M. Sze, ed., Semiconductor Sensors. New York:
John Wiley, 1994. 5) R. S. Muller, et.al., Microsensors. New York: IEEE Press, 1991. 6) M.
Madou, Fundamental of Microfabrication, CRC Press, Inc. Boca Raton, FL., 1997 7) M. Elwensoek,
H. Jansen, "Silicon Micromachining," Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2001 8) J.W. Gardner,
“Microsensors – Principles and Applications,” John Wiley & Sons, 1994
Additional reading and Journals:
9) K.D. Wise, ed., Micromachined Sensors and Sensing Systems, IEEE
Proceedings, Special issue, August 1998 10) IEEE Transactions on Electron
Devices, Special Issues of December 1979, January 1992, and July 1985. These
issues contained many of the seminal papers in the field. 11) Digest of
Technical Papers, International Conferences on Solid-State Sensors and
Actuators (Transducers). This conference is held every other year. 1985 to
2007. 12) Digest of Technical Papers, Solid-State Sensor and Actuator
Workshop (Hilton Head, SC Series), 1984 through 2008 13) Proceedings,
IEEE Micro Electro Mechanical Systems Workshop (MEMS Conference), 1987
to 2008
14) Digests of Technical Papers, IEEE International Electron Devices Meetings (IEDM). This
conference contains many of the seminal papers on solid-state image sensors and tracks the
 development of this and some of the other sensor technologies over the years.
15) Digests of Technical Papers, IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC). This
conference has also served as the focal point for leading edge work, particularly in image sensors.
16) IEEE/ASME Journal of Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (IEEE JMEMS),
published by the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers. See IEEE
website at www.ieee.org 17) Sensors and Actuators Journal [A (Physical), B
(Chemical), and C (Materials)], published by Elsevier Publishing,
http://www.elsevier.com/inca/publications 18) Journal of Micromechanics and
Microengineering (JM&M), published by British Institute of Physics),
http://www.iop.org/Journals/jm 19) Sensors and Materials Journal, MYU Publishing,
Japan

Reading Assignments:
Reading assignments will be provided prior to the lecture in which the corresponding material is
covered (see the Course Outline). Students are responsible for all reading materials (for problem sets,
quizzes, and the final examination). Also, supplementary notes will be available for key topics. All of
the class lecture notes will be available on the web before a given lecture, and you should make a copy
of this before coming to class.

Problem Sets:
Problem sets will be assigned according to the attached outline (this is tentative). They are
usually issued on Thursdays and are due the following Friday at 5pm (no late homeworks will be
accepted without checking with me beforehand). Solutions will be on the course web site. We will try to
get the graded homework back to you by the following class so that you will receive feedback on your
performance quickly. Make sure that you do all the homework sets as they are designed to cover the
material presented in the lecture, and try not to use solutions from previous semesters.

Computer Aided Design and Simulation Tools and Assignments:

Because of their multi-domain nature, and due to their intrinsically three-dimensional features,
design and analysis of MEMS is often complicated and requires access to a host of modeling and
simulation tools. Such tools are not yet readily and widely available. In an attempt to facilitate
understanding of basic concepts and aid in the analysis of simple MEMS devices, we have acquired
access to one of the most comprehensive modeling and simulation tools currently available. Coventor,
Inc. has provided educational licenses for its Coventorware suite of design and modeling software for the
sole use in this course. Although this software package has some limitations, it is nonetheless a
powerful tool that enables the user to obtain basic understanding of the fabrication, construction, and
modeling of many MEMS. We will use this software wherever possible to aid in teaching the material
covered in the course. In addition to Coventorware, you can also use ANSYS (a finite-element
simulation tool) that is available in most places. I will also be happy to discuss other CAD options that
you may have available to you if you do not have access to the above (this applies mostly to non-UM
students).

The software will be used in homework problems and in limited computer assignments that either
accompany the homework or will be given as small limited mini-projects. For those who do not have
access to this software package, you can try to utilize free and available softwares. If you do not have
access to this software package please let me know as soon as possible.

Quizzes:
The approximate dates of the two quizzes in this course are indicated in your course outline. We
will try to adhere to these dates so much as possible. The quizzes will be held either late afternoon or
early evening (to be decided in class), and will be 1.5 hours each.

Final Exam:
The final exam will take place during the Examination period as indicated in the outline, and will
cover all of the material in the course. This includes everything covered in problem sets, lectures, the
textbook, and the handouts.

Grading Policy:
Course grades will be assigned according to the following grading formula. Please note that this
formula is tentative; students will be informed of any major changes.

Problem Sets and mini-projects .........20%

Quiz 1: ................................................15%
Quiz 2: ................................................25%
Final Exam: ........................................40%

In most cases students will be made aware of the basic statistics (mean, median, and standard
deviation) for each assignment.

Course Syllabus (Tentative)

1) Introduction (1 lecture)
a) Motivation, examples
b) Course goals and coverage i) Need to fabricate small components: structures, transducers, circuits
ii) Study different transduction techniques, specifically capacitive and piezoresistive

2) Review of standard semiconductor planar processing technologies (~5 lectures)

a) Silicon as an electronic and mechanical material: properties, crystal structure, wafers, etc.
b) Basic technologies and processes
i) Photolithography: photoresist, exposure, developing, and masking
ii) Silicon oxidation: wet and dry
iii) Doping: Ion implantation, diffusion (pre-deposition and drive-in)
iv) Deposition: (CVD, PECVD, LPCVD, evaporation, sputtering)
v) Etching: wet and dry

c) Different thin-film materials used in integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing and their
composition: oxides, nitride, polysilicon, metals, polymers, diamond/Sic, etc. d)
Review of basic semiconductor physics and electronics devices

3) Review of specific micromachining technologies (~7 lectures)

a) Silicon etching: isotropic, anisotropic, dry, other techniques
b) Wafer bonding (anodic, fusion, eutectic, polymer)
c) Etch stops (concentration dependent, electrochemical, dielectric)
d) Review of the most common micromachining technologies:

i) Silicon bulk micromachining: wet and dry

ii) Surface (sacrificial) micromachining: polysilicon, metals, polymers, etc.
iii) Molding: electroplating, hot embossing, etc.
4) Signal/Energy Domains and modeling techniques (~2 lectures)
a) Lumped modeling with circuit elements
i) Review of basic circuit elements and analysis to be done in discussion)

(1) Electrostatics

(2) Basic elements and relationships (RLC circuits) for circuit analysis

(3) First and second order linear systems ii) Review of basic mechanics (force, pressure,
moment, static relationships) iii) Capacitor, resistor, inductors as model elements

5) Introduction to micro electro-mechanical transducers (sensors & actuators) (~8

lectures)
a) Introduction, motivation, why we need to analyze electro-mechanical systems
b) Elasticity (basic definitions of stress, strain, etc.
c) Mechanical structures

i) Bending of beams
ii) Bending of plates

d) Energy conserving transducers

i) The capacitor as sensor and actuator (basic capacitive transduction)
ii) Application to sensors, parallel plate and overlap area change

e) Electromechanical capacitive transducers

i) Examples, like pressure and acceleration sensors
ii) Capacitive actuators

f) The piezoresistance effect in semiconductors

i) Introduction to basic semiconductor properties
ii) Piezoresistive effect

g) Electromechanical piezoresistive transducers

i) Bridge configuration, and sensing structure
ii) Examples, like pressure and acceleration sensors

6) Introduction to micro electro-mechanical-thermal transducers (sensors & actuators) (~6

lectures)
i) Thermal material property issues and definitions ii) Fundamentals of heat transfer iii)
Electro-thermal analogy iv) Thermal sensors such as temperature, infrared, flow, pressure, and
acceleration v) Thermal actuators, Joule heating

7) Introduction to RF MEMS, BioMEMS and Microfluidics (~1 lecture, if time permits)

DETAILED COURSE OUTLINE (tentative)
EECS 414 Introduction to MEMS Fall 2009
Mo. Date Material Covered HW's Comments
Administrative Information, Introduction, Motivation
Review standard semiconductor processing technologies (Lecture) See Lecture: Intro. basic
semiconductor physics
Review standard semiconductor processing technologies
Review standard semiconductor processing technologies
Review thin film materials used in microfabrication/micromachining
Read Review of RLC Circuits, electronic devices, CMOS
Silicon micromachining technologies HW#1 Due
Silicon micromachining technologies
Coventorware MEMS software introduction
Standard micromachining & MEMS process technologies HW#2 Due
Standard micromachining & MEMS process technologies
Review standard micromachining & MEMS process technologies See
Tape on: Review of electronic devices, Use Coventorware software
Standard micromachining & MEMS process technologies HW#3 Due
Standard micromachining & MEMS process technologies
Review basic mechanics, dynamics for non-ME's
Materials and Material properties HW#4 Due
Electromechanical transducers, Elasticity, Mechanical structures
Discussion
Electromechanical transducers, Elasticity, Mechanical structures HW#5 Due
Fall Study Break, No Class,
Quiz #1 Review and Preparation
Mechanical Structures
Energy conserving transducers: capacitive sensors
Discussion Quiz #1: Microfabrication and Micromachining Exam held
Technologies in the
evening
Energy conserving transducers: capacitive sensors HW#6 Due
Energy conserving transducers: capacitive sensors
Discussion: Energy conserving transducers: capacitive sensors
Capacitive Actuators HW#7 Due
Capacitive Actuators
Discussion: Capacitive Actuators
Capacitive Actuators HW#8 Due
Piezoresistive Effect
Discussion: Piezoresistive Transducers
Piezoresistive Transducers HW#9 Due
Piezoresistive Transducers Quiz #2: Capacitive & Piezoresistive Exam held
Transducers in the
evening
Electro-thermal MEMS
Thanksgiving Break
Electro-thermal MEMS
Discussion: Electro-thermal MEMS
Electro-thermal MEMS HW#10 Due
Electro-thermal MEMS
Electro-thermal MEMS
Last Day of Class, Electro-thermal MEMS, Course Evaluations
Study Day, No Class
Final Exam: Thursday Dec. 17, 6:30-8:30pm