AVS 52nd International Symposium
    MEMS and NEMS Monday Sessions
       Session MN-MoM

Invited Paper MN-MoM3
Science and Technology of Ultrananocrystalline Diamond Thin Films and Their Integration for Fabrication of Advanced MEMS/NEMS

Monday, October 31, 2005, 9:00 am, Room 207

Session: Processing & Characterization of Materials for MEMS & NEMS
Presenter: O. Auciello, Argonne National Lab
Authors: O. Auciello, Argonne National Lab
J. Birrell, Presently with Advanced Diamond Technologies
J.A. Carlisle, Argonne National Lab
K.-H. Kim, Northwestern Univ.
B. Peng, Northwestern Univ.
H.D. Espinosa, Northwestern Univ.
A.V. Sumant, Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison
D.S. Grierson, Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison
N. Guoqing, Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison
R.W. Carpick, Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison
Correspondent: Click to Email
The science and technology of multifunctional thin films and interfaces and new phenomena sustained in film-based nanostructures are opening the way for a new generation of multifunctional microelectromechanical and nanoelectromechanical system (MEMS/NEMS) devices. In this talk, we will review the fundamental and applied science related to the synthesis and characterization of ultrananocrystalline diamond (UNCD) thin films and their integration with other materials for the fabrication of advanced MEMS/NEMS devices. UNCD films are grown using a novel Ar-rich CH@sub 4@/Ar plasma chemistry that results in the synthesis of films with 3-5 nm grains and atomically abrupt grain boundaries, and it is this unique nanostructure that is responsible for the unusual combination of mechanical, tribological, chemical and electronic (when doped) properties of UNCD relevant to MEMS/NEMS. We will discuss results from joint research between Argonne and Northwestern University that provided unique insights into the mechanical properties of UNCD relevant to MEMS and NEMS as well as the fabrication of MEMS structures and characterization of their mechanical properties, We will also discuss results from joint research between Argonne and University of Wisconsin-Madison that provided unique insights into the effect of seeding layers such as W on the growth of UNCD films and on their morphology and microstructure and the resulting effects on nanoscale tribological and electrochemical properties, We will discuss characterization of the surface chemistry and bonding probed by total electron- and fluorescence-yield near edge x-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy to distinguish between near-surface and deeper (“bulk”) changes in the film and correlations with tribological and electrochemical properties that depend sensitively on the surface chemistry and bonding. The fundamental and applied science of UNCD films will be discussed in view of fabrication of structures for advanced MEMS/NEMS devices. *Work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Basic Energy Sciences-Materials Sciences, under Contract W-31-109-ENG-38.