AVS 46th International Symposium
    The Science of Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems Topical Conference Wednesday Sessions
       Session MM-WeA

Paper MM-WeA7
Environmental Effects on the Tribological Behavior of Silane-Treated Micromachines@footnote 1@

Wednesday, October 27, 1999, 4:00 pm, Room 620

Session: Micro-Science and Tribology
Presenter: M.T. Dugger, Sandia National Laboratories
Authors: M.T. Dugger, Sandia National Laboratories
J.A. Ohlhausen, Sandia National Laboratories
G.A. Poulter, Sandia National Laboratories
Correspondent: Click to Email
Reproducible performance of silicon surface micromachined devices having contacting surfaces in relative motion requires that contact surfaces maintain uniform friction coefficient over the useful life of the device. High yield fabrication of such structures also requires that the moving surfaces are physically free from other surfaces after the final manufacturing step. Several methods are available to produce hydrophobic surfaces on silica at the conclusion of manufacturing, so that capillary forces do not pull structural elements into contact. These may also favorably affect the friction coefficient and wear characteristics of the treated surfaces. However, these chemical surface terminations may be degraded by wear, and the degradation may be influenced by reactive species present in the gas phase. Polycrystalline silicon test structures have been used to determine the friction coefficient and durability of silane-based surface treatments in controlled environments. Water vapor present in the environment leads to changes in friction coefficient and device failure at fewer operating cycles than when water vapor is absent. Surface analysis and mechanistic aspects of interaction of the silane-treated surface with water vapor will be discussed. @FootnoteText@ @footnote 1@ This work was supported by the United States Department of Energy under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000. Sandia is a multiprogram laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin Company, for the United States Department of Energy.