Special Issue "Modeling, Testing and Reliability Issues in MEMS Engineering - 2009"

Guest Editor
Dr. Stefano Mariani
Dipartimento di Ingegneria Strutturale, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza L. da Vinci 32, 20133 Milano, Italy
Website: http://www.stru.polimi.it
E-Mail:
Phone: +39 02 2399 4279
Fax: +39 02 2399 4220
Interests: MEMS; structural sensors; kalman filtering

Dear Colleagues,

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.

Dr. Stefano Mariani
Guest Editor

Submission

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• micro-electro-mechanical-systems
• multi-scale and multi-physics modelling
• micro-fluidics
• failure analysis
• reliability analysis
• package engineering

Type of Paper: Review
Title: Mathematical Modeling of Electrostatic MEMS
Authors: Jordan Berg et al.; E-Mail: jordan.berg@ttu.edu
Abstract: Electrostatic MEMS are used in many applications, including optical switches, microrelays, digital displays, micromotors, micropumps, microgrippers, and RF switches. Understanding and predicting the performance of these devices relies on proper modeling of electrostatic fields, charge flow, and mechanical response, including consideration of fringing fields and parasitic capacitances. The interactions between these elements may result in phenomena such as pull-in that profoundly influence device behavior. Mathematical models of electrostatic MEMS serve a variety of purposes, from conceptual design to detailed simulation. This review surveys and discusses models reported in the literature. Special attention is paid to model validation. The intention is to inform readers of the range of results available for mathematical modeling of electrostatic MEMS, and to aid in the selection of the most suitable approach for a particular task.

Papers Published in 2007 and 2008