Experimental Mechanics

, 49:395 | Cite as

A Linearized Method to Measure Dynamic Friction of Microdevices

Article
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:

Abstract

We propose and evaluate a linearized method to measure dynamic friction between micromachined surfaces. This linearized method reduces the number of data points needed to obtain dynamic friction data, minimizing the effect of wear on sliding surfaces during the measurement. We find that the coefficient of dynamic friction is lower than the coefficient of static friction, while the adhesive pressure is indistinguishable for the two measurements. Furthermore, after an initial detailed measurement is made on a device type, the number of trial runs required to take the data on subsequent devices can be reduced from 200 to approximately 20.

Keywords

MEMS Dynamic friction Static friction Polysilicon Micromachine Tribology Friction 
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

Notes

Acknowledgments

Sandia is a multiprogram laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin Company, for the United States Department of Energy under Contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.

References

  1. 1.
    Sniegowski JJ, de Boer MP (2000) IC-compatible polysilicon surface micromachining. Annu Rev Mater Sci 30:297.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  2. 2.
    Chau KHL, Sulouff RE (1998) Technology for the high-volume manufacturing of integrated surface-micromachined accelerometer products. Microelectron J 299:579.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  3. 3.
    Schuster J, Monk D (2000) Micromachined pressure sensors pave way for new process solutions. Control Solut 7311:43.Google Scholar
  4. 4.
    Tanner DM, Dugger MT (2003) Wear mechanisms in a reliability methodology. In: Proc. of the SPIE, vol. 4980, pp 22–40.Google Scholar
  5. 5.
    Hornbeck LJ (1995) Projection displays and MEMS: timely convergence for a bright future. In: Proc. of the SPIE, vol. 2639. Austin, TX, pp 2–12.Google Scholar
  6. 6.
    Henck SA (1997) Lubrication of digital micromirror devices. Tribol Lett 3:239.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  7. 7.
    Ashurst WR, Yau C, Carraro C, Maboudian R, Dugger MT (2001) Dichlorodimethylsilane as an anti-stiction monolayer for MEMS: a comparison to the octadecyltrichlosilane self-assembled monolayer. J Microelectromech Syst 101:41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  8. 8.
    Tas NR, Gui C, Elwenspoek M (2003) Static friction in elastic adhesion contacts in MEMS. J Adh Sc Tech 174:547.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  9. 9.
    Timpe SJ, Komvopoulos K (2006) The effect of adhesion on the static friction properties of sidewall contact interfaces of microelectromechanical devices. J Microelectromech Syst 156:1612.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  10. 10.
    Alsem DH, Stach EA, Dugger MT, Enachescu M, Ritchie RO (2007) An electron microscopy study of wear in polysilicon microelectromechanical systems in ambient air. Thin Solid Films 5156:3259.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  11. 11.
    Lim MG, Chang JC, Schultz DP, Howe RT, White RM (1990) Polysilicon microstructures to characterize static friction. In: Proc. IEEE MEMS Workshop. Napa Valley, CA, USA, pp 82–88.Google Scholar
  12. 12.
    Corwin AD, de Boer MP (2004) Effect of adhesion on dynamic and static friction in surface micromachining. Appl Phys Lett 8413:2451.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  13. 13.
    Eapen KC, Smallwood SA, Zabinski JS (2006) Lubrication of MEMS under vacuum. Surf Coat Tech 2016:2289.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  14. 14.
    Gabriel KJ, Behi F, Mahadevan R, Mehregany M (1990) In situ friction and wear measurements in integrated polysilicon mechanisms. Sens Actuators, A A21–A23:184.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  15. 15.
    Turner KL, Hartwell PG, Macdonald NC (1999) Multi-dimensional MEMS motion characterization using laser vibrometry. In: Transducers ’99 The 10th International Conference on Solid-State Sensors and Actuators. Sendai, Japan, pp 1144–1147.Google Scholar
  16. 16.
    de Boer MP, Luck DL, Ashurst WR, Corwin AD, Walraven JA, Redmond JM (2004) High-performance surface-micromachined inchworm actuator. J Microelectromech Syst 131:63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  17. 17.
    Tang WC, Nguyen TCH, Howe RT (1989) Laterally driven polysilicon resonant microstructures. Sens Actuators A 201–2:25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  18. 18.
    Miller SL, Rodgers MS, La Vigne G, Sniegowski JJ, Clews PJ, Tanner DM, Peterson KA (1999) Failure modes in surface micromachined microelectromechanical actuation systems. Microelectron Reliab 398:1229.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  19. 19.
    Greenwood JA, Williamson JBP (1966) Contact of nominally flat surfaces. Proc Roy Soc Lond A 295:300.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  20. 20.
    Hankins MG, Resnick PJ, Clews PJ, Mayer TM, Wheeler DR, Tanner DM, Plass RA (2003) Vapor deposition of amino-functionalized self-assembled monolayers on MEMS. In: Proceedings of the SPIE, vol. 4980. San Francisco, pp 238–247.Google Scholar
  21. 21.
    Mayer TM, de Boer MP, Shinn ND, Clews PJ, Michalske TA (2000) Chemical vapor deposition of fluoroalkylsilane monolayer films for adhesion control in microelectromechanical systems. J Vac Sci Technol, B 185:2433.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  22. 22.
    Coulomb CA (1785) The theory of simple machines (in French). Mem Math Phys Acad Sci 10:161–331.Google Scholar
  23. 23.
    DelRio FW, de Boer MP, Knapp JA, Reedy ED, Clews PJ, Dunn ML (2005) The role of van der Waals forces in adhesion of micromachined surfaces. Nature Materials 48:629–634.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Copyright information

© Society for Experimental Mechanics 2008

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.MEMS Core Technologies DepartmentSandia National LaboratoriesAlbuquerqueUSA
  2. 2.GE Global Research CenterNiskayunaUSA
  3. 3.Mechanical Eng. DepartmentCarnegie Mellon UniversityPittsburghUSA

Personalised recommendations