Special Issue: "Modeling, Testing and Reliability Issues in MEMS Engineering" - Sensors Journal

Guest Editor
Dr. Stefano Mariani
Centre of Computational Structural and Materials Mechanics
Department of Structural Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
Tel. + 39  02 2399 4279, Fax + 39 02 2399 4220
E-mail: [email protected]; http://www.stru.polimi.it/IT/

Summary

Micro-electro-mechanical-systems (MEMS) are devices on a millimeter scale, with micro-resolution. Each MEMS is given by the integration of mechanical elements, sensors, actuators and electronics on a common silicon substrate, obtained through micro-fabrication technology.
MEMS are often designed to work in mobile devices, and are therefore subject during their life to accidental mechanical loadings. Because of the MEMS size, multi-scale analyses are sometimes required in reliability analysis. Furthermore, also thermal, electrical, magnetic and environmental actions should be accounted for in a fully coupled multi-physics modelling of the devices.
As for packaging, some technical problems caused to the devices are not yet thoroughly understood and solved. Since standards do not necessarily apply to packaged MEMS, new knowledge-based testing methodologies need to be proposed.
The aim of this special issue is to collect high quality research results on all these aspects of MEMS engineering.

Keywords

Micro-electro-Mechanical-Systems; multi-scale and multi-physics modelling; micro-fluidics; failure analysis; reliability analysis; package engineering


Published Papers

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Dong-Sam Park 1,*, Dae-Jin Yun 1, Myeong-Woo Cho 2 and Bong-Cheol Shin 2
1 Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Incheon, Incheon 402-749, Korea; E-mail: [email protected], E-mail: [email protected].
2 Division of Mechanical Engineering, Inha University, Incheon 402-751, Korea; E-mail: [email protected], E-mail: [email protected]
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 2 May 2007 / Accepted: 21 May 2007 / Published: 24 May 2007
Full Paper: An Experimental Study on the Fabrication of Glass-based Acceleration Sensor Body Using Micro Powder Blasting Method
Sensors 2007, 7, 697-707 (PDF format, 774 K)

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Wen-Ming Zhang 1,*, Guang Meng 1 and Di Chen 2
1 State Key Laboratory of Mechanical System and Vibration, Shanghai Jiao Tong University,
800 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200240, China
2 National Key Laboratory of Micro/Nano Fabrication Technology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University,
1954 Huashan Road, Shanghai 200030, China
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: [email protected].
Received: 13 April 2007 / Accepted: 22 May 2007 / Published: 31 May 2007 
Full Paper: Stability, Nonlinearity and Reliability of Electrostatically Actuated MEMS Devices
Sensors 2007, 7, 760-796 (PDF format, 605 K)

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Timo Veijola 1,* and Peter Raback 2
1 Helsinki University of Technology, P.O. Box 3000, FIN-02015 TKK, Finland, E-mail: [email protected]
2 CSC – Scientific Computing Ltd., P.O. Box 405, FIN-02101 Espoo, Finland. E-mail: [email protected]
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 18 May 2007 / Accepted: 27 June 2007 / Published: 28 June 2007
Full Paper: Methods for Solving Gas Damping Problems in Perforated Microstructures Using a 2D Finite-Element Solver
Sensors 2007, 7, 1069-1090 (PDF format, 745 K)

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Jong-Wan Kim 1,3,*, Hidekuni Takao 1,2,3, Kazuaki Sawada 1,2,3 and Makoto Ishida 1,2,3
1 Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and 2 Intelligent Sensing System Research Center, Toyohashi University of Technology, Toyohashi/Aichi, 441-8580, Japan; E-mails: [email protected][email protected][email protected]
3 JST-CREST, Japan Science and Technology Agency
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-mail: [email protected]
Received: 22 June 2007 / Accepted: 30 July 2007 / Published: 31 July 2007
Full Paper: Integrated Inductors for RF Transmitters in CMOS/MEMS Smart Microsensor Systems
Sensors 2007, 7, 1387-1398 (PDF format, 3680 K)

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Hai Huang*, Guang Meng, and Jieyu Chen
State Key Laboratory of Mechanical System and Vibration, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 DongChuan Road, Shanghai, 200240, People Republic of China)
E-mail: [email protected]. E-mail: [email protected]
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: [email protected]
Received: 27 June 2007 / Accepted: 2 August 2007 / Published: 3 August 2007
Full Paper: Investigations of Slip Effect on the Performance of Micro Gas Bearings and Stability of Micro Rotor-Bearing Systems
Sensors 2007, 7, 1399-1414 (PDF format, 1510 K)

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Woo-Chul Jung 1, Young-Moo Heo 1, Gil-Sang Yoon 1, Kwang-Ho Shin 1, Sung-Ho Chang 1, Gun-Hee Kim 2 and Myeong-Woo Cho 2,*
1 Precision Molds & Dies Team, Incheon R&D Center, KITECH, Incheon 406-840, Korea. E-mail: bogus2@ kitech.re.kr, E-mail: [email protected], E-mail: [email protected],
E-mail: [email protected], E-mail: [email protected]
2 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Inha University, Incheon 402-751, Korea. E-mail: [email protected], E-mail: [email protected]
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received: 11 June 2007 / Accepted: 24 August 2007 / Published: 27 August 2007
Full Paper: Micro Machining of Injection Mold Inserts for Fluidic Channel of Polymeric Biochips
Sensors 2007, 7, 1643-1654 (PDF format, 1340 K)

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Hsin-Ta Hsieh  and Guo-Dung John Su *
Institute of Photonics and Optoelectronics, National Taiwan University, 1, Roosevelt Road, Section 4, Taipei, Taiwan
E-mail: [email protected][email protected]
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 19 July 2007 / Accepted: 31 August 2007 / Published: 3 September
Full Paper: Reliability of a MEMS Actuator Improved by Spring Corner Designs and Reshaped Driving Waveforms
Sensors 2007, 7, 1720-1730 (PDF format, 758 K)

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Stefano Mariani 1,⋆, Aldo Ghisi 1, Alberto Corigliano 1 and Sarah Zerbini 2
1 Dipartimento di Ingegneria Strutturale, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza L. da Vinci 32, 20133 Milano (Italy).
E-mails: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
2 MEMS Product Division, STMicroelectronics, Via Tolomeo 1, 20010 Cornaredo (Italy).
E-mail: [email protected]
⋆ Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: [email protected]
Received: 30 August 2007 / Accepted: 6 September 2007 / Published: 7 September 2007
Full Paper: Multi-scale Analysis of MEMS Sensors Subject to Drop Impacts
Sensors 2007, 7, 1817-1833 (PDF format, 1180 K)

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Qiang Pan and Chongdu Cho *
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Inha University, Incheon, 402-751, South Korea
E-mail: [email protected], E-mail: [email protected]
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 6 August 2007 / Accepted: 10 September 2007 / Published: 11 September 2007 
Full Paper: The Investigation of a Shape Memory Alloy Micro-Damper for MEMS Applications
Sensors 2007, 7, 1887-1900 (PDF format, 294 K)


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Heung-Shik Lee, Chongdu Cho * and Myeong-Woo Cho 
1 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Inha University, Incheon 402-751, Korea
E-mail: [email protected], E-mail: [email protected], E-mail: [email protected]
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 18 July 2007 / Accepted: 27 September 2007 / Published: 9 October 2007
Full Paper: Magnetostrictive Micro Mirrors for an Optical Switch Matrix
Sensors 2007, 7, 2174-2182 (PDF format, 394 K)


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Ching-Liang Dai * and Ying-Liang Chen
Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Chung Hsing University, 250 Kuo-Kuang Rd., Taichung, 402 Taiwan, R.O.C.
E-mail: [email protected],  E-mail: [email protected]
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 18 October 2007 / Accepted: 7 November 2007 / Published: 9 November 2007

Full Paper: Modeling and Manufacturing of Micromechanical RF Switch with Inductors
Sensors 2007, 7, 2660-2670 (PDF format, 619 K)

 
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Marius B�zu 1,*, Lucian Gălăţeanu 1, Virgil Emil Ilian 1, Jerome Loicq 2, Serge Habraken 2 and Jean-Paul Collette 2
1 National Institute for R&D in Microtechnologies –IMT-Bucharest, 126A, Erou Iancu    Nicolae street, 077190, Bucharest, Romania. E-mails: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
2 Centre Spatial de Li�ge - CSL (Universit� de Li�ge), Place du 20-Ao�t, 9 � B-4000 Li�ge, Belgium.  E-mails: : [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 27 September 2007 / Accepted: 14 November 2007 / Published: 20 November 2007

Full Research Paper: Quantitative Accelerated Life Testing of MEMS Accelerometers
Sensors 2007, 7, 2846-2859 (PDF format, 602 K)

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Yung-Chuan Chen 1, Hsun-Heng Tsai 2, Wei-Hua Lu 3 and Li-Wen Chen 1,*
1 Department of Vehicle Engineering, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Pingtung, Taiwan
E-mail: [email protected].
2 Department of Biomechatronics Engineering, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Pingtung, Taiwan
E-mail: [email protected]
3 Department of Material Engineering, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Pingtung, Taiwan
E-mail: [email protected]
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: E-mail: [email protected]
Received: 12 October 2007 / Accepted: 14 November 2007 / Published: 26 November 2007

Full Paper: Effect of Electrical Contact on the Contact Residual Stress of a Microrelay Switch
Sensors 2007, 7, 2997-3011 (PDF format, 466 K)


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Wen-Hui Lin 1 and Ya-Pu Zhao 2,*
1  College of Science, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China
2  State Key Laboratory of Nonlinear Mechanics (LNM), Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of   Sciences, Beijing 100080, China
* Author to whom all correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: [email protected] (Y.-P. Zhao).
Received: 5 November 2007 / Accepted: 27 November 2007 / Published:  29 November 2007
Full Paper: Influence of Damping on the Dynamical Behavior of the Electrostatic Parallel-plate and Torsional Actuators with Intermolecular Forces
Sensors 2007, 7, 3012-3026 (PDF format, 188 K)

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Avinash Parashar *, Ankur Shah, Muthukumaran Packirisamy and Narayanswamy Sivakumar
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, EV 13-310, Concordia University, 1515, St. Catherine West, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3G 2W1
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: [email protected]
Received: 25 October 2007 / Accepted: 29 November 2007 / Published: 4 December 2007
Communication: Three Cavity Tunable MEMS Fabry Perot Interferometer
Sensors 2007, 7, 3071-3083 (PDF format, 306 K)


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Ching-Liang Dai *, Yao-Wei Tai and Pin-Hsu Kao
Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Chung Hsing University, 250 Kuo-Kuang Rd., Taichung, 402 Taiwan, R.O.C.
E-mails: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 19 November 2007 / Accepted: 18 December 2007 / Published: 19 November 2007

Full Paper: Modeling and Fabrication of Micro FET Pressure Sensor with Circuits
Sensors 2007, 7, 3386-3398 (PDF format, 1022 K)


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Dong-Woo Kim 1,*, Myeong-Woo Cho 1, Tae-il Seo 2 and Eung-Sug Lee 3
1 Division of Mechanical Engineering, Inha University, Incheon 402-751, Korea. E-mail: [email protected], E-mail: [email protected]
2 Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Incheon, Incheon 402-749, Korea. E-mail: [email protected]
3 Nano-Mechanisms Groups, KIMM, Daejeon 305-343, Korea. E-mail: [email protected]
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 4 December 2007 / Accepted: 8 January 2008 / Published: 10 January 2008
Full Research Paper: Application of Design of Experiment Method for Thrust Force Minimization in Step-feed Micro Drilling
Sensors 2008, 8, 211-221 (PDF format,  K)

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Dong-Woo Kim 1,*, Myeong-Woo Cho 1 and Young-Jae Shin 2
1 Division of Mechanical Engineering, Inha University, Incheon 402-751, Korea
E-mail: [email protected], E-mail: [email protected]
2 Nano-Mechanical Systems Technology Division, KIMM, Daejeon 305-343, Korea
E-mail: [email protected]
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 30 November 2007 / Accepted: 8 January 2008 / Published: 10 January 2008
Full Research Paper: Experimental Study on the Effects of Alumina Abrasive Particle Behavior in MR Polishing for MEMS Applications
Sensors 2008, 8, 222-235 (PDF format,  K)

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Ho-Su Jang 1, Myeong-Woo Cho 2 and Dong-Sam Park 1,*
1 Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Incheon, Incheon 402-749, Korea
E-mail: [email protected]
2 Division of Mechanical Engineering, Inha University, Incheon 402-751, Korea
E-mail: [email protected], E-mail: [email protected]
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 14 January 2008 / Accepted: 29 January 2008 / Published:  6 February 2008
Full Research Paper: Micro Fluidic Channel Machining on Fused Silica Glass Using Powder Blasting
Sensors 2008, 8, 700-710 (PDF format, 814 K)

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Alberto Ballestra 1, Aurelio Som� 1,* and Renato Pavanello 2
1 Department of Mechanics, Politecnico of Torino, C.so Duca degli Abruzzi,24 - 10129, Torino, Italy
E-mail: [email protected], E-mail: [email protected]
2 Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, State University of Campinas, CEP 13083-970 Campinas, Brazil
E-mail: [email protected]
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 19 November 2007 /Accepted: 26 January 2008 /Published: 
6 February 2008
Full Research Paper: Experimental-numerical Comparison of Frequency Shift of Cantilever MEMS in Presence of Residual Stress Gradient
Sensors 2008, 8, 767-783 (PDF format, 638 K)

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Alhussein Albarbar *, Samir Mekid, Andrew Starr and Robert Pietruszkiewicz
School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering, University of Manchester, Manchester,  M60 1QD, U.K.    
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: [email protected].
Received: 30 November 2007 / Accepted: 31 January 2008 / Published: 
6 February 2008
Full Research Paper: MEMS Accelerometers – Are They Suitable for Condition Monitoring?
Sensors 2008, 8, 784-799 (PDF format, 378 K)

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Ho Su Jang 1,a, Myeong Woo Cho 2,b and Dong Sam Park 1,*
1 Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Univ. of Incheon, 177 Dohwa –Dong , Nam-Ku, Incheon, Korea
2 Division of Mechanical Engineering, Inha University, Incheon 402-751, Korea
E-mail: a [email protected], b [email protected].
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-mail: [email protected]
Received: 10 January 2008 / Accepted: 6 February 2008 / Published: 
8 February 2008
Full Research Paper: Micro Dot Patterning on the Light Guide Panel Using Powder Blasting
Sensors 2008, 8, 877-885 (PDF format, 971 K)

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Mohamed Boutaayamou 1,*, Ruth V. Sabariego 1 and Patrick Dular 1,2
1 Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Applied and Computational Electromagnetics (ACE), 1 University of Li`ege, 1,2 FNRS Sart Tilman Campus, Building B28, B-4000, Li`ege, Belgium; E-mails: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 14 September 2007 / Accepted: 8 February 2008 / Published:
19 February 2008
Full Research Paper: A Perturbation Method for the 3D Finite Element Modeling of Electrostatically Driven MEMS
Sensors 2008, 8, 994-1003 (PDF format, 1220 K)

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Romesh C. Batra 1, Maurizio Porfiri 2,* and Davide Spinello 3
1 Department of Engineering Science & Mechanics, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, Blacksmith, VA 24061, USA; E-mail: [email protected]
2 Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, Polytechnic University, Brooklyn, NY 11201, USA; E-mail: [email protected]
3 The Bradley Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, Blacksmith, VA 24061, USA; E-mail: [email protected]
* Corresponding author.
Received: 21 December 2007 / Accepted: 14 Februar 2008 / Published:
19 February 2008
Full Paper: Effects of van der Waals Force and Thermal Stresses on Pull-in Instability of Clamped Rectangular Microplates
Sensors 2008, 8, 1048-1069 (PDF format, 1330 K)

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Dae Jin Yun, Tae Il Seo and Dong Sam Park *
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Incheon, 177 Dohwa –Dong , Nam-Ku, Incheon, Korea E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: [email protected]
Received: 15 February 2008 / Accepted: 21 February 2008 / Published:  22 February 2008
Full Paper: Fabrication of Biochips with Micro Fluidic Channels by Micro End-milling and Powder Blasting
Sensors 2008, 8, 1308-1320 (PDF format, 6664 K)

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Pil Hyong Lee, Sang Seok Han and Sang Soon Hwang *
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Incheon, 177 Dohwa –Dong , Nam-Gu, Incheon, Korea
E-mail: [email protected], E-mail: [email protected]
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: [email protected].
Received: 30 January 2008 / Accepted: 27 February 2008 / Published: 3 March 2008
Full Paper: Three-Dimensional Transport Modeling for Proton Exchange Membrane(PEM) Fuel Cell with Micro Parallel Flow Field
Sensors 2008, 8, 1475-1487 (PDF format, 4840 K)

Open Access
Minha Park 1 and Yang Gao 2,*
1 Research & Development Center, Hyundai Autonet Co., Ltd. Ami-ri, Bubal-eub, Ichon-si, kyoungki-do, 467-701, Korea; E-mail: [email protected]
2 Department of Geomatics Engineering, Schulich School of Engineering, The University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2N 1N4; E-mail: [email protected]
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 14 November 2007 / Accepted: 26 March 2008 / Published:  1 April 2008
Full Research Paper: Error and Performance Analysis of MEMS-based Inertial Sensors with a Low-cost GPS Receiver
Sensors 2008, 8, 2240-2261 (PDF format, 375 K)

Open Access
Bumkyoo Choi *, Seung-Yop Lee, Taekhyun Kim and Seog Soon Baek
Department of Mechanical Engineering Sogang University / #1 Shinsu-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul 121-742, Korea
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-mail: [email protected]; Tel. 82-2-705-8639; Fax: 82-2-712-0799
Received: 21 March 2008; in revised form: 24 May 2008 / Accepted: 2 June 2008 / Published: 3 June 2008
Article: Dynamic Characteristics of Vertically Coupled Structures and the Design of a Decoupled Micro Gyroscope
Sensors 2008, 8, 3706-3718 (PDF format, 574 K) DOI: 10.3390/s8063706
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MDPI - Matthias Burkhalter - 16 July 2008