TY - JOUR
T1 - Controlling adhesion between multi-asperity contacting surfaces in MEMS devices by local heating
AU - Gkouzou, Alkisti
AU - Kokorian, Jaap
AU - Janssen, G.C.A.M.
AU - van Spengen, Merlijn
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - In this work, we have incorporated heaters in a MEMS device, which allow the in situ local heating of its contacting surfaces. This design offers a promising solution for MEMS devices with contacting components by preventing capillary-induced adhesion. The force of adhesion was assessed by optically measuring in-plane snap-off displacements. We were able to decrease adhesion from 500 nN to 200 nN with just one heated surface of which the temperature was set above 300 °C. The temperature should not be set too high: we observed increased adhesion due to a direct bonding process once the temperature was increased above 750 °C. Remarkably, adhesion increased by heating from room temperature to 75 °C, which is attributed to more water being transferred to the contact area due to faster kinetics. We observed the same effect in the cases where both surfaces were heated, although at slightly different temperatures. We demonstrated that heating only one surface to between 300 °C and 750 °C is sufficient to significantly lower adhesion, due to the removal of capillary menisci. The required heater is typically most easily implemented in a stationary part of the device.
AB - In this work, we have incorporated heaters in a MEMS device, which allow the in situ local heating of its contacting surfaces. This design offers a promising solution for MEMS devices with contacting components by preventing capillary-induced adhesion. The force of adhesion was assessed by optically measuring in-plane snap-off displacements. We were able to decrease adhesion from 500 nN to 200 nN with just one heated surface of which the temperature was set above 300 °C. The temperature should not be set too high: we observed increased adhesion due to a direct bonding process once the temperature was increased above 750 °C. Remarkably, adhesion increased by heating from room temperature to 75 °C, which is attributed to more water being transferred to the contact area due to faster kinetics. We observed the same effect in the cases where both surfaces were heated, although at slightly different temperatures. We demonstrated that heating only one surface to between 300 °C and 750 °C is sufficient to significantly lower adhesion, due to the removal of capillary menisci. The required heater is typically most easily implemented in a stationary part of the device.
KW - MEMS device
KW - adhesion
KW - stiction
KW - displacement
KW - temperature
KW - micro-Raman spectroscopy
KW - capillary condensation
UR - http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:ff6b86e0-4353-4d46-956d-fa32f36a1c5e
U2 - 10.1088/0960-1317/26/9/095020
DO - 10.1088/0960-1317/26/9/095020
M3 - Article
SN - 0960-1317
VL - 26
JO - Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering
JF - Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering
M1 - 095020
ER -