| AVS 54th International Symposium | |
| Tribology | Wednesday Sessions |
| Session TR1+MN-WeA |
| Session: | Surfaces and Interfaces in MEMS |
| Presenter: | J. Krim, North Carolina State Univ. |
| Authors: | J. Krim, North Carolina State Univ. M. Aggleton, Univ. of California at Irvine C.J. Brown, North Carolina State Univ. J.C. Burton, Univ. of California at Irvine D.A. Hook, North Carolina State Univ. J. Wenner, Univ. of California at Irvine M.T. Dugger, Sandia National Labs A. Morris, WiSpry, Inc. J.E. Rutledge, Univ. of California at Irvine P. Taborek, Univ. of California at Irvine |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
Microelectromechanical systems, MEMS, have become a remarkably successful technology since the beginnings of MEMS development 30 to 40 years ago. However the overwhelming majority of MEMS are used near room temperature and atmospheric pressure. Consequently there is little empirical data to guide the design of MEMS for use in environments such as space where low pressures and cryogenic temperatures must be tolerated. In addition, it is well known that friction and wear severely constrain MEMS design. MEMS that have sliding contact between surfaces have shorter lifetimes and lower reliability than MEMS that do not. We have measured the characteristics of two microelectromechanical systems, namely a silicon sidewall tribometer and an RF MEMS direct contact switch, at cryogenic temperatures and in ambient gas environments below atmospheric pressure, and report on the tribological issues and possible solutions for operation of MEMS in such extreme environments.
1 This work has been supported by EXTREME FRICTION AFOSR MURI #FA9550-04-1- 0381, and partially by Sandia National Laboratories. Sandia is a multiprogram laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin Company, for the United States Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under Contract DE- AC04-94AL85000.