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A novel approach to construct self-assembled 3D MEMS arrays

Akhundzada, Sapida
Yang, Xiaohui
Fiedler, Johannes
Käkel, Eireen
Al-Qargholi, Basim
Buhmann, Stefan
Ehresmann, Arno
Hillmer, Hartmut

The paper presents the design and technological fabrication process of Yin or Yang-shaped, micron-sized electromechanical system (MEMS) elements displaying asymmetric hollow cylinders with two different curvatures of the cylinder shell. By adapting the process steps, two neighboring shutter MEMS elements can either be attached to each other to create asymmetric hollow cylinders or remain disconnected to form curled cylindrical or ellipsoidal tubes or tube fractions. A novel 3D self-organization process has been developed to connect two neighboring shutter elements, exploiting surface tension forces via a sequential drying process. The process conditions have been analyzed and optimized to fabricate the two different geometries of the MEMS elements. The resulting MEMS system elements were characterized by focused ion beam and scanning electron microscopy. The contribution of Casimir force, van der Waals force, and other physical interfacial forces are discussed in the formation of the asymmetric hollow cylinders.

Sponsor
Gefördert im Rahmen des Projekts DEAL
Citation
In: Microsystem Technologies Volume 28 / Issue 9 (2022-08-20) , S. 2139-2146; eissn:1432-1858
Collections
@article{doi:10.17170/kobra-202209226890,
  author    ={Akhundzada, Sapida and Yang, Xiaohui and Fiedler, Johannes and Käkel, Eireen and Al-Qargholi, Basim and Buhmann, Stefan and Ehresmann, Arno and Hillmer, Hartmut},
  title    ={A novel approach to construct self-assembled 3D MEMS arrays},
  keywords ={600 and MEMS and Array and 3D-Technologie and Hohlzylinder},
  copyright  ={http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/},
  language ={en},
  journal  ={Microsystem Technologies},
  year   ={2022-08-20}
}