Microwave Engineering & RF MEMS

http://ece.iisc.ernet.in/~kjvinoy/rfmems/rfmems.htm

Instructor Dr. K.J. Vinoy, Asst Professor, ECE Dept.

Detailed Course Outline

1. Introduction to MEMS, general concepts on miniaturization and fabrication (1)

2. MEMS Materials, Fabrication and Processes: Silicon, other substrates, ceramics (1)
3. Lithography, Deposition techniques, Etching techniques (2)
4. Bulk micromachining, Surface micromachining (2)

5. Actuation Mechanisms in MEMS, Electrostatic actuation, Comb drive actuators (3)

6. Intro. Microwave Engg. RF transmission lines: theory, high freq effects (4)
7. Sections of transmission lines: special cases, Transmission line examples: microstrip, CPW(4)
8. S-parameter theory, ABCD, parameter extraction, Introduction to RF MEMS (4)

9. RF MEMS Switches: Intro, basic design guidelines

10. RF switch design case studies, Performance improvement approaches
11. Micromachined passive components, theory, features, tunable capacitors, inductors
12. RF resonators & filters
13. RF Filter design concepts
14. Mechanical filters: design approaches, RF filters with MEMS, mmwave filters, SAW, BAW filters
15. Phase Shifters: introduction, basic theory, applications
16. RF MEMS Phase shifters, Distributed MEMS phase shifters, Ferroelectric phase shifters

17. Micromachining concepts for antennas:

18. Antenna parameters, Microstrip antennas, Microstrip antenna design, key factors affecting performance
19. Micromachined antennas, Micromachined Txn lines and components
20. Reliability & packaging, RF MEMS Packaging (5)

Evaluation: Tests & Home Works Grading Policy

Test 1 Aug, 24 2005 15% % Marks Grade

Test 2 Sept 14 2005 15% 91-100 S
Test 3 Oct. 26 2004 15% 81-90 A
Homework/Project* 5% 66-80 B
Finals 50% 51-65 C
40-50 D
*Email submissions only, due at 5PM on Nov 18
Policy on Late Submission of Home works
First 5 working days after deadline @ 5 % per day
Afterwards add 15 % per week
Absolutely no excuses!

Suggested Text Books

1. D.M. Pozar, Microwave Engineering 2nd ed., John Wiley 2003
2. M. Madou, Fundamentals of Microfabrication 2nd ed., CRC Press, 2002
3. V.K. Varadan, K.J. Vinoy and K.A. Jose, RF MEMS and their Applications, John Wiley, 2002.

1
Other Reference Books
Microwave Engineering
4. I Bahl, Lumped Elements for RF and Microwave Circuits, Artech House
5. R.E. Collin, Foundations for Microwave Engineering, IEEE Press
6. R. Mongia, I.J. Bahl, and P. Bhartia, RF and Microwave Coupled-Line Circuits, Artech House, 1999.
7. I. Bahl & P. Bartia, Microwave Solid State Circuit Design, Wiley Inter Science, 2003.

Microfabrication & MEMS

8. S. Senturia, Microsystem Design, Kluwer, 2001.
9. J.W. Gardner , V.K. Varadan , O.O. Awadelkarim, Microsensors, MEMS & Smart Devices John Wiley, 2001.
10. S. Campbell, The Science and Engineering of Microelectronic Fabrication, Oxford Univ. Press, 2001
11. N Maluf An Introduction to Microelectromechanical Systems Engineering, Artech House
12. M Elwenspoek R. Wiegerink, Mechanical Microsensensors, Springer 2001
13. G.T. Kovacs, Micromachined Transducers Sourcebook, McGraw Hill Science, 1998
14. M. Gad El Hak The MEMS Handbook, CRC Press 2001.

RF MEMS
15. G. Rebeiz, RF MEMS: Theory, Design, and Technology, Wiley/IEEE Press, 2003
16. H.J. De Los Santos, Introduction to Microelectromechanical (MEM) Microwave Systems, Artech house, 1999.
17. H.J. De Los Santos, RF MEMS Circuit Design for Wireless Communications, Artech House, 2003

Journals of Interest
IEEE/ASME J. Microelectromechanical Systems
IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory & Techniques
J. Micromechanics and Micromachining (IOP)
IEEE Microwave & Wireless Components Letters

Websites of Interest
18. http://www.nexus-mems.com/ E uropean microsys net
19. http://guernsey.et.tudelft.nl/indexold.html - Silicon Microoptics in Delft
20. http://guernsey.et.tudelft.nl/farlinks.html
21. http://www.dimes.tudelft.nl/ DIMES delft institute of microelectronics and
submicron technology
22. http://www.postech.ac.kr/~khkang/Links.htm MEMS links
23. http://www.darpa.mil/MTO/MEMS/ DARPA MEMS
24. http://www.memsnet.org/ MEMS and Nanotechnology Clearinghouse ISI
MEMS clearinghouse
25. http://transducers.stanford.edu/ Stanford transducers lab
26. http://www-bsac.eecs.berkeley.edu/ Berkeley Sensor & Actuator centre
27. http://mems.jpl.nasa.gov/home.html JPL-MEMS
28. http://www.analog.com/index.html look up MEMS technology at Analog devices
29. http://www.mcnc-rdi.org/index.cfm MCNC research home page
30. http://www.mems.louisville.edu UofL MicroTechnology Web Site
31. http://www.dbanks.demon.co.uk/ueng/ Introduction to Microengineering by Dr. Daniel Banks
32. http:/www.dbanks.demon.co.uk/ueng/ Microsystems, Microsensors & Microactuators by Dr.
Daniel Banks
33. http://www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Personal/D.Banks/roughgui.html Introduction to Microengineering
34. http://www.memsrus.com/cronos/svcsmumps.html MUMPS Design Handbook
35. www.memsrus.com/cronos/mumps.pdf

The course material will be from various resources listed above.

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 Electromagnetic spectrum of relevance
HF 3-30 MHz
VHF 30-300 MHz
UHF 300-1000 MHz RF
L 1-2 GHz
S 2-4 GHz
C 4-8 GHz Microwave
X 8-12 GHz
Ku 12-18 GHz
K 18-27 GHz
Ka 27-40 GHz
V 40-75 GHz
W 75-90 GHz
mm wave 30-300 GHz

Wavelength & frequency

c 30
= [cm] =
f f GHz

History/ Evolution/ Trends in RF Engineering

Popular application Frequency
Early 20th century Radios ~ MHz
mid- 20th century TV 100s MHz
late 20th century Mobile phones ~ 1 GHz
early 21st century (Wireless systems) 2-5 GHz
Bluetooth/ WLAN
Next?? Future generation (?) 20-50 GHz (?)

Behavior RLC Components at High Frequencies

All components (passive, active, and even interconnects) need to be viewed as distributed parameter networks. We
will consider resistors, capacitors, inductors, and the skin effect in conductors.
Recall some fundamental principles:
Resistance - occurs in any conducting medium (except superconductors) and limits the flow of current.
Capacitance - occurs whenever two conductors are separated by a dielectric.
Inductance - occurs whenever magnetic flux links a conductor.
The physical dimensions and material properties of the components determine the equivalent distributed parameter
network and we model the component as a network of discrete components.

Resistor

3
Capacitor

Inductor

Observe that
All components have resistance, capacitance, and inductance.
At low frequencies, the unintended components are insignificant.
At high frequencies, these unintended components become significant.
The unintended components are distributed throughout the device. These devices should therefore be
modeled with a network of discrete devices.
As a rule of thumb, when the average size of a discrete component is more than a tenth of the wavelength,
the distributed parameter network model, i.e., transmission line theory, should be used. (Use the wavelength
in the medium, not the free-space wavelength)

Some of the issues with Conventional RF/Microwave Circuits

Issue Result
Poor modeling Discontinuity effects
Radiation leakage to, and/or out of the substrate
Formation of multiple modes
Poor Q-factor Excess bandwidth, reduced selectivity of filters, increasing input noise power
Excess insertion loss, reduced output power, efficiency
Excess localization of heat dissipation (requiring thermal management)
Excess noise temperature, reducing sensitivity of receivers
Poor line-to line isolation Low directivity, reducing efficiency of directional couplers
High cross-talk, increasing stability problems in amplifiers and oscillators
Increasing mutual coupling between antenna elements
Stray coupling between standards, increasing measurement uncertainty.
Low package density Excess line lengths, further increasing insertion loss
Excess chip sizes, increasing cost

4
This course addresses the possibility of Microfabricated components and their use in RF engineering

What are RF MEMS?

Components used for RF, Microwave and millimeter wave systems
Small devices, with feature size of micron order
Fabricated by micro- (and nano-) technologies
These are devices for RF applications, made by microfabrication route

Common Advantages of RF MEMS

Miniaturization
Integration capability
Increased performance (reduced parasitics, reduced losses)
Reduced power/voltage (for actuation) requirements
Batch production reduced cost
Potential for system-on-a-chip

Some RF MEMS Components

Micro-Switches/Micro-relays
Capacitors and Inductors
Resonators and Filters
Phase Shifters
Antennas, Planar transmission lines

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6
 Introduction to Microsystems Technology

Definitions
Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS)
Miniaturized device or an array of devices, combining electrical and mechanical components, fabricated using IC
batch production techniques. Also called Microsystems, micromechanical systems, etc.
MEMS is usually an integration of mechanical elements, sensors, actuators, and electronics on a common substrate
(usually silicon) through microfabrication technology. While the electronics are fabricated using IC process
sequences (e.g., CMOS (most common now), Bipolar, or BICMOS processes), the micromechanical components are
fabricated using a set of "micromachining" processes that selectively etch away parts of the wafer or add new
structural layers to form the mechanical and electromechanical devices.
Actuator
A device that generates force to manipulate itself, or another mechanical device, or the surrounding environment to
perform some useful function
Sensor
A device that collects useful information from the surrounding environment, and provides one or more output
variables to a measuring instrument
Smart Sensor
A sensor with built-in intelligence (usually integrated). This will have the necessary control and electronics built-in
on-chip, or separately on another fabricated by IC technology, and packaged together.
Substrate
A material that supports (or forms part of) the device. (Usually silicon, ceramic, glass, or plastic) Note: if the
substrate is semiconductor material such as Si, GaAs, the electronics may be built in. Another possibility: organic
electronics)
Structural Layer
A layer of thin film material that comprises a mechanical device. The layer is fabricated on the sacrifical layer, and
then released by etching it away.
Sacrifical Layer
A layer of material that is deposited between the structural layer and the substrate to provide mechanical separation
and isolation between them. This is removed after the mechanical components on the structural layer are fully
formed, by release etch. This approach facilitates the free movement of the structural layer with respect to the
substrate.
Minimum Feature Size
The lateral dimension of the smallest feature on the structural layer
Vertical Aspect Ratio
Ratio of the height of the structural layer to the minimum feature size
Die Footprint
The total area on the substrate that the (entire) device occupies.

MEMS Technology Milestones

Credited to Physicist R. Feynmann Theres plenty of room at the bottom 1956

Bulk etching of Si wafers for pressure sensors 1970s
Pioneering work: K. Peterson Silicon as a structural material (properties, etching data) 1982
Surface micromachined polysilicon, comb drive actuators, disc drive heads 1980s
Optical Applications MOEMS 1990s
RF/microwave applications RF MEMS 1990s

Major Areas of MEMS Applications (industry-wise)

Automobile/Transportation
Defense, Space
Medical/Biological
Industrial/Control
Telecom (RF & Optical)

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MEMS Components for Automotive/Transportation Segment

Micromachine Application Present Availability Status

Absolute pressure sensor Manifold absolute pressure (MAP) sensing Available
Accelerometer Air-bag release Available
Temperature sensors Inside and outside vehicle Available
Level sensor Oil and gas level Available
Light sensor Turn on the lights Available
Solid state cameras Looking behind truck or car Available
Pressure sensors e.g., for exhaust gas recirculation Available
Rain sensors Automatic Available
Parking sensors Collision avoidance Available
Oxygen sensor Air/gas ratio Available, but needs better
Air flow sensor Air/fuel ratio control Expensive, not micromachined
Head-up display Information on window Not affordable yet
Alcohol sensor Detection of alcohol level in blood of No reliable products available
drivers
Humidity sensor Cabin climate Unsatisfying products
available
Tire pressure sensor Pressure reading on board Under development
Torque sensors Work Under development
Battery sensor Customs Research
charge/density
Contraband detector
Azide sensor Air bag propellant Charge/density of Does not exist
electrolyte
Driver identification Theft prevention No good solutions
Fuel flow sensor No good solutions yet
Gyros Navigation No inexpensive solutions
Spill detector Truck accidents clearing No good solutions available
Micro-nozzle system Fuel injection
NOX Sensor Pollution control Not available
Oil quality monitor Engine protection Not available
Roadlbridge condition Preventive road maintenance Not available
sensors
Road sensors Roughness, ice, rain Not available at cost
Smart windows Defog, clear view Not available at low cost

Defense/Space
Accelerometers
Angular rate sensors/gyroscopes
Micropropulsion systems
Micropumps
RF components for radar and communications
IR imagers

Medical/Bio
Drug delivery systems
Patches Cygnus GlucoWatch Biographer
External and implantable pumps Debiotech micropump,
Smart pill ChipRx smart pill,

Monitoring
Point -of-care testing i-STAT's hand-held blood analyzer
On-line monitoring of blood gases See RT-MECSS from microbioncs
On-line monitoring of pressure Several disposable pressure sensors available (<$1)

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 Prostheses/artificial organs
Orthopedics, ophthalmology Nanotexturing of surfaces for enhanced biocompatibility of implants
Neurology MEMS neural stimulator probes

Cardiology
Pacemakers One- or two-axis accelerometers for activity monitoring
Angioplasty catheters Several disposable pressure sensors available (<$1)

Biotechnologies
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
Genetic tests and therapy
Electrophoresis
Liquid handling systems
PCR efforts, e.g., at Cepheid
Nanogen's NanoChipTM
See Caliper and Acalara lab-on-a-chip (LaC) technologies
See e.g., Micronics fluidic T-sensor technology

Minimally invasive surgery

Cutting tools Painless ultrasonic cutting tools at the University of Wisconsin

Industrial/Automation
IR imagers
Gyroscopes
Accelerometers
Valves
Pressure sensors
ISFETs (ion-senitive FET)

Telecom/IT
Optical switches
Microrelays
RF components
Attenuators and equalizers
Ink-jet print heads
Memory device RW heads
Projection displays
Gyros

Why Miniaturization?
Some common features of miniaturization include:
Minimizing of energy and materials consumption during manufacturing
Redundancy and arrays
Integration with electronics, simplifying systems (e.g., single point vs. multipoint measurement)
Reduction of power budget
Taking advantage of scaling when scaling is working for us in the micro domain, e.g., faster devices, improved
thermal management, etc.
Increased selectivity and sensitivity
Minimally invasive
Wider dynamic range
Exploitation of new effects through the breakdown of continuum theory in the micro domain
Cost/performance advantages
Improved reproducibility
Improved accuracy and reliability
Self-assembly and biomimetics with nanochemistry
More intelligent materials with structures at the nanoscale

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MEMS: Materials, Fabrication and Processes

Materials
for MEMS

Substrates Thin films Packaging

Plastics Glass Semiconductor Poly-silicon Dielectrics Ceramic

Ceramic Semiconductor Metal Special Plastics Metal

materials

MgO Si Al Ti PZT SiO2

Alumina GaAs Au Ag STO Si3N4
Sapphire InP Cu Pd BST PMMA
Ge Pt
Alloys

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 Function of Various Materials in MEMS

Substrates
Mechanical support
IC compatibility

Thin films
Structural
Sacrificial
Dielectric (polymeric/ceramic/silicon-based)
Semiconductor (epi-layers)
Conductor

Usually thin film materials may have multiple functions

e.g., poly-silicon and metal films are used as conductor (layout/electrode) as well as structural layer

Sometimes the same material may have opposing functions in different devices
e.g, SiO2 is usually used as a sacrifical material. But this is also used as structural/etch stop layer.

Important Useful technologies

Vacuum technology
Cleanliness, Transfer of materials without contamination (in thermal evaporation)
Repeatable processing
Lithography and selective patterning
Photolithography
Lift-off technique (lithography+metallization)
Chemical/plasma etching
Plasma technology
Created in vacuum (with selected pure gases)
Ion-bombardment to modify materials
Selective etching
Deposition
Change surface chemistry
Change surface morphology

Deposition techniques (list incomplete)

Physical
Evaporation (energy by high temp)
Sputtering (energy by RF plasma)
Chemical
CVD (source contains compounds of the material; can produce high quality films)
Others
Electroplating (for very high thickness films, fast process, less control on thickness)
Spin-cast
epitaxial

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 Substrate Materials in MEMS and RF MEMS

Silicon
Silicon is used widely for mechanical sensor applications,
mechanical stability,
feasibility of integrating sensing and
electronics.

Silicon wafers are available as

4 (100mm diameter) thickness:
525m,
6 (150mm diameter)
thickness:650m
also 8, 12 available but not used in
MEMS.
Usually in MEMS, wafers used are polished on
both sides.

Crystallography of Silicon
The periodic arrangement of atom in a crystal
is called the lattice.
A unit cell in a lattice can represent
the entire lattice.
For a unit cell, basis vectors can be
defined such that if the unit cell is
translated by integral multiples of
these vectors, a new unit cell identical
to the original is obtained.

a1 =a2 =a3 = a a : lattice constant

===90
(these six parameters are lattice parameters)

To identify a plane or a direction a set of

integers h, k, l called Miller indices are used.

Conventions
Notation To identify
[] a specific direction
<> a family of eqvt. directions
() a specific plane
{} a family of equivalent planes
A bar above an index is equivalent to a minus
sign.
To determine Miller indices of a plane, take the
intercepts of that plane with the axes and express these intercepts as multiples of the basis vectors a1, a2 , a3.
Reciprocals of these intercepts are taken to avoid infinities, multiplied by LCM to convert it to integer.

(1) Determine the points at which a given crystal plane intersects the three axes, for example at (a,0,0), (0,b,0),
(0,0,c). If the plane is parallel an axis, it is said to intersect the axis at infinity.

(2) The Miller index for the face is then specified by (1/a,1/b,1/c), where the three numbers are expressed as the
smallest integers (common factors are removed). Negative quantities are indicated with an overbar.

Example:
A plane intersects the crystallographic axes at (2,0,0), (0,4,0), (0,0,4).
Step 1: (1/2,1/4,1/4); multiply by 4 to express as smallest integers.
Step 2: (2,1,1) are the Miller indices. This is a (211) plane.

Planes direction [1 0 0 ] [0 1 0 ] [0 0 1] are all crystallographically equivalent and form the group <1 0 0>
direction

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Crystal structures of silicon
Covalently bonded structure
Diamond cubic structure
( same as carbon in diamond)
belongs to zinc-blende classification.
Silicon with 4 covalent bonds, co-ordinates itself tetrahedrally.
These tetrahedrons make up diamond-cubic structure.
Two interpenetrating face centered cubic lattices one displaced (1/4,1/4,1/4) times the other.
Lattice parameter for silicon : 5.4309
Packing density for Si is 34 % (Regular face centered cube ( fcc ) has 74 % packing density)

{1 1 1} plane has the highest packing density for Si ; atoms are oriented such that 3 bonds are below the plane .
For Integrated circuits [1 0 0 ] and [1 1 1 ] are used.
[1 1 0 ] is used for micro machining,
breaks / cleaves much more cleanly.
[1 1 1 ] are used less often, as they can not be easily etched by wet anisotropic etching.
p-type p-type n-type n-type
{111} {100} {111} {100}

180 Primary flat

90 45 (in all types)

Secondary flat

Primary and secondary flats for various Si

See for more details

http://www.ee.byu.edu/cleanroom/./EW_orientation.phtml

Geometric relationships between some important planes on the silicon lattice .

Angle between {1 0 0} and {1 1 0} planes : 45
Angle between {1 0 0} and {1 1 1} planes : 54.74
{1 1 1} and {1 1 0} planes can intersect at 35.26 or 90 or 144.74

Selection of [1 0 0 ] and [1 1 0] Oriented Silicon

[100] oriented Si [110] oriented Si

Inward sloping walls (54.74)
The sloping walls cause a lot of lost real estate
Flat bottom parallel to surface is ideal for membrane
fabrication
Bridges perpendicular to a V-groove bound by (1 1
1 ) planes cannot be underetched
Shape and orientation of diaphragms convenient and
simple to design
Diaphragm size, bounded by nonetching
{1 1 1} planes, is relatively easy to control
Vertical {1 1 1} walls
Narrow trenches with high aspect ratio are possible
Multifaceted cavity bottom ({110} and
{ 1 0 0 } planes) makes for a poor diaphragm
Bridges perpendicular to a V-groove bound by (1 1
1) planes can be undercut
Shape and orientation of diaphragms are awkward
and more difficult to design
Diaphragm size is difficult to control (the
< 100 > edges are not defined by nonetching planes)

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Anisotropically etched features in a (100) wafer with a square mask (pyramidal pit) and rectangular mask (V groove)

note: the (100) bottom plane disappears by continuous etching

normally, no under etching occurs
if the mask is not aligned, undercutting will occur.
For a mask opening of arbitrary opening and orientation, etching for sufficiently long time can result in
pyramidal structures/grooves
Convex corners (>180) in the mask will be undercut.
This property can be made to use in designing suspended cantilever/bridge structure

Standard Dimensions of a Si Wafer

Wafer diameter 100 mm (4) 125 mm (5) 150 mm (6)
Parameter
Primary flat length (mm) 30 to 35 40 to 45 55 to 60
Secondary flat length (mm) 16 to 20 25 to 30 35 to 40
Bow (mm) 60 70 60
Total thickness variation (m) 50 65 50
Surface orientation (100) or (111) (100) or (111) (100) or (111)

Disadvantages of silicon
Silicon is not usually used in these cases:
For large device size.
Low production volume.
When electronics is not needed or cannot be integrated.

Important useful characteristics of silicon

Sensory
Piezo resistivity in silicon.
Thermal properties of Si
Optical properties of Si
Mechanical
Si has better yield strength than steel

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 lower density than Aluminium.
Hardness of Si is better than steel (approaches quartz).
Youngs modulus of Si approaching that of steel,
(well above that of quartz).

High Resistivity Si wafers for RF MEMS

Resistivity is very important to good electronic devices and for growing uniform thermal oxides. High resistivity
silicon can only be produced using the Float Zone (FZ) crystal growth method, which does not use a crucible during
crystal growth. The Czochralski (CZ) method uses a quartz crucible during crystal growth, and oxygen from the
crucible unintentionally dopes the material. The oxygen dopant behaves as an n-type impurity and impedes high
resistivity. Low resistivity n-type material is achieved using Arsenic doping.

Typical available products from Wacker (http://www.wacker-siltronic.de/3/i3a.htm).

FZ silicon wafers as cut, lapped, lapped/etched and polished in diameters of 76.2mm to 150mm
CZ silicon wafers polished and epitaxial in diameters of 100mm to 200mm
In development CZ silicon wafers polished and epitaxial 300 mm
Topsil is another supplier for Premium Float Zone, Neutron Transmutation Doped and High Purity Silicon.

Mechanical properties of Single-crystal Silicon among technological materials

Yield strength Specific Knoop Young's Density Thermal Thermal
(109 N/m2= strength hardness modulus (103 kg/m3 ) conductivity expansion
GPa) [103m2s-2] (kg/mm2) (109N/m2 at 300 K (l0-6/C)
= GPa) (W/cmK)
Diamond (SC) 53 15000 7000 10.35 3.5 20 1
Si (SCS) 2.8-6.8 3040 850-1100 190(111) 2.32 1.56 2.616
GaAs (SC) 2 0.75 5.3 0.81 6
Si 3 N 4 14 4510 3486 323 3.1 0.19 2.8
SiO2 (fibers) 8.4 820 73 2.5 0.014 0.4-0.55
SiC (6H-SiC) 21 6560 2480 448 3.2 5 4.2
Iron 12.6 400 196 7.8 0.803 12
Tungsten (W) 4 210 485 410 19.3 1.78 4.5
Al 0.17 75 130 70 2.7 2.36 25
AlN 16 340 1.6 4
Al2O3 15.4 2100 275 4 0.5 5.4-8.7
Stainless steel 0.5-1.5 660 206-235 7.9-8.2 0.329 17.3
Quartz
//Z 9 850 107 2.65 0.014 7.1
Z 13.2
Polysilicon 1.8 (annealed) 161 2.8
Notes: SC= single crystal; SCS=Single crystal Silicon, T=temperature, //Z=parallel to Z-axis, Z=perpendicular to
Z-axis

15
Silicon single-crystal material characteristics

Parameter Value Remarks

Atomic weight 28.1
Atoms/cm2 5x1022
Band gap at 300 K 1.12 eV. Silicon has a high band gap, making it useful electrically at
high temperatures. Indirect band gap in the near infrared. It is
opaque to ultraviolet and transparent to IR.
Lattice constant () 5.43
Electron mobility (cm2/Vs) 1500
Hole mobility (cm2/Vs) 400
Intrinsic carrier concentration (cm-3) 1.45x1010
Minority carrier lifetime (s) 2.5x10-3
Intrinsic resistivity (-cm) 2.3x105 vs. 108 for GaAs
Chemical resistance High. Silicon is resistant to most acids, except combinations of
HF/HNO3 and certain bases.
Oxide growth Yes Si grows a dense, strong, chemically resistant, passivating
layer of Si02. This oxide is an excellent thermal insulator with
a low expansion coefficient
Silicon nitride A typical coating for Si with a hardness and wear resistance
only topped by diamond.
Yield strength (GPa) 7 (steel is 2.1). IC grade Si is stronger than steel.
Young's modulus E (GPa) 190 [111] direction. The elastic modulus is similar to that of steel
(steel is 200).
Poisson ratio 0.22
Density (gr/cm3) 2.4. Si has a lower density than aluminum (2.7).
Dislocation density <100/cm2. IC grade silicon contains virtually no imperfections; thus, it is
relatively insensitive to cycling and fatigue failure
Knoop hardness (kg/mm2) 850 (stainless steel is 820). Si is harder than steel and can be
readily coated with silicon nitride, providing high abrasion
resistance.
Dielectric strength (V/cm106) 3
Dielectric constant 11.9 vs. 13.1 for GaAs
Linear coefficient of thermal 2.6. The low expansion coefficient of Si is closer to quartz than to
expansion at 300K (10 - 6/C) metal, making it insensitive to thermal shock.
Melting point 1415C. Silicon is a high-melting material, making it suitable for high-
temperature applications.
Specific heat at 300 K (J/gk) 0.713
Thermal diffusivity (cm2/s) 0.9
Temperature coefficient of 1000
permittivity (106 K-1) at 300 K
Thermal conductivity at 300 K 1.56 Si has a high thermal conductivity, comparable to metals such
(W/cmK) as carbon steel (0.97) and Al (2.36).
Temperature coefficient of Young's -90
modulus (10 -6 K-1 at 300K)
Temperature coefficient of -2500
piezoresistance (10 -6 K-1) at 300 K
(doping < 10 18 cm-3)

16
Gallium Arsenide, GaAs
After silicon second the most common semiconductor,
Due to direct bandgap commonly used to fabricate light emitting devices;
In GaAs, one of the two arrays is composed entirely of Ga atoms, while the other array is composed of As atoms.
This particular class of the diamond structure is called the zinc-blende structure
Due to higher electron and hole mobilities, also foundation of the variety of high-speed electronic devices;
Bandgap can be readily engineered by forming ternary compounds based on GaAs, e.g. AlGaAs.

Properties
energy gap Eg 1.43 eV, direct bandgap;
crystal structure zinc blend,
lattice constant 5.65
index of refraction 3.3,
density 5.32 g/cm3
dielectric constant 12.9
intrinsic carrier concentration 2.1 x 106 cm-3
mobility of electrons and holes at 300 K 8500 and 400 cm2/V-s
thermal conductivity 0.46 W/cmC
thermal expansion coefficient 6.86 x 10-6 C-1;

Disadvantages
Does not form sufficient quality native oxide;
Thermally unstable above 600C due to As evaporation;
Mechanically fragile;

Comparison of III-IV group of wafer Compositions

System Bandgap Comments

energy, Eg [eV]
Al xGa1 x As 1.42 Extensively used
In0:49Al0:51P 2.3
Al xGa1 xAsyP1 y 1.421.61 y0:01. Used to adjust AlGaAs lattice constants
In xGa1 xAsyP1 y 1.421.75 Seldomly used in preference to AlGaAs
In0:49(Al xGa1 x)0:51P Lasers and diodes with visible emission to 2.15 eV

Structural and mechanical properties of Si, GaAs and InP

Si GaAs InP
Crystal structure (space group) diamond zinc zinc
(m3m) blend blend
(43m) (43m)
Lattice constant, a [] 5.4311 5.6533 5.8688
Density, [103 kg/m 3] 2.329 5.36 4.791
Melting point, TM [C] 1413 1238 1740
Specific heat, Cp [J/g K] 0.71 0.327 0.322
Thermal resistivity, W [K cm/W] 0.64 2.27 1.47
Thermal expansion coefficient, 11 [ 10-6/C] 2.6 6.4 4.56
Debye temperature, D [K] 463 370 422
Stiffness constants [GPa]
c 11 165.6 118.8 101.1
c 12 63.98 53.8 56.1
C44 79.51 59.4 45.6
Elastic compliance constants b [10 -12 Pa -l]
Sll 7.7 11.7 16.38
S12 -2.1 -3.7 -5.84
S44 12.6 16.8 21.93
Fracture toughness, Kic [MPa m1/2] 0.9 0.44 0.36
Hardness, Hv(100) [GPa] 10 7 4.3
Micromechanical bending strength

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 Maximum value of f(max) [GPa] 13 5 4
Average value of f(max) [GPa] 7 2.7 2.2

a
Temperature and pressure dependent values are given for RT and 1 atm.
b
The values for silicon have been calculated from the cij values, using the relationships: c11-c12= (s11-s12)-1 , c11+2c12=(s11+2s12)-1 and c44= (s44)-1.
c
Calculated from f= 1.6Klc(c)-1/2, assuming the same defect distribution as in GaAs.

Other Substrate Materials

Glass
Fused Quartz
This is naturally occurring crystalline silica (Silicon Dioxide) from stone, sand, rock or lumps in its melted
form.
Density (at 20 C): 2.2 g/cm3;
Thermal Coefficient of Expansion: 5.5 x 10-7/C;
Strain Point: 1120C;
Refractive Index: 1.458;
Dielectric Constant: 3.75.

Fused Silica
Density (at 20 C): 2.2 g/cm3;
Thermal Coefficient of Expansion: 5.5 x 10-7/C;
Strain Point: 990C;
Annealing Point: 1075C;
Softening Point: 1585C;
Refractive Index(l=589.3nm): 1.459;
Dielectric Constant: 3.8

Performance of various substrates (for general MEMS / IC applications)

Substrate cost Metallization Machinability
Ceramic medium Fair poor
plastic low Poor fair
silicon high Good Very good
glass low Good poor

Comparison of Various Substrate materials useful in RF MEMS

Substrate Diameter mm Thickness m Resistivity - Dielectric Unit Price, $

Material cm constant (Lot Size)
Silicon n-type 100 350 20 11.9 12 (100)
Silicon p-type 100 350 20 11.9 12 (100)
Thin Silicon 100 200 20 11.9 75 (25)
HR-Si 100 300 7500 11.9 72 (25)
Gallium Arsenide 100 600 <108 13.1 150 (25)
Indium Phosphide 76.2 600 5x107 12.5 1000 (1)
Magnesium Oxide 50.8 500 109 9.8 56 (10)
Quartz 25 160 4x107 3.8 27 (30)
Sapphire 50 430 109 9.8 73 (10)

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