AVS 57th International Symposium & Exhibition
    MEMS and NEMS Thursday Sessions
       Session MN-ThA

Paper MN-ThA6
Bulk Focused Ion Beam Fabrication of Nanoelectromechanical Systems

Thursday, October 21, 2010, 3:40 pm, Room Santo Domingo

Session: Integration, Packaging and Reliability of MEMS and NEMS
Presenter: W.K. Hiebert, National Institute for Nanotechnology (NRC Canada)
Authors: W.K. Hiebert, National Institute for Nanotechnology (NRC Canada)
D. Vick, National Institute for Nanotechnology (NRC Canada)
V. Sauer, National Institute for Nanotechnology (NRC Canada)
A.E. Fraser, University of Alberta, Canada
M.R. Freeman, University of Alberta, Canada
Correspondent: Click to Email
Although the focused ion beam (FIB) has previously been used for fabrication of nanostructures and devices, including MEMS and NEMS, FIB nanomilling out of bulk material has rarely been discussed. In this talk, we will present our methods and results for using FIB to fabricate NEMS devices out of bulk materials. Ion impingement from multiple directions allows sculpting with considerable 3-dimensional control of device shape, including tapering and notching. The tailoring of large gaps between device layer and bulk allows large amplitude NEMS motion, access to a nonlinear readout regime, and a novel calibration method for optical interferometric displacement detection. Finite element modeling of device frequencies agrees with interferometric measurements, including for the effect of a localized notch. The measurements are sensitive enough to determine the thermomechanical noise floor of a bulk FIBed NEMS device with displacement sensitivity of 166 fm / Hz½ , limited only by a combination of optical shot noise and detector dark current. We envision that bulk FIB fabrication will be useful for NEMS prototyping, milling of tough-to-machine materials, and generalized nanostructure fabrication with 3-dimensional shape control.