Silicon Carbide Material and Process Technologies for Microelectromechanical Systems

BFGoodrich Professor of Engineering Innovation
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Case Western Reserve University
10900 Euclid Avenue
Cleveland, Ohio 44106
ABSTRACT:
Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) enable the development of smart products and systems by augmenting the computational ability of microelectronics with the perception and control capabilities of microsensors and microactuators. SiC is well known for its excellent properties, making it an outstanding addition to the MEMS technology toolbox. Increasing interest in SiC for coating and structural device applications, combined with recent demonstrations of SiC surface micromachining processes, have provided substantial impetus for developing deposition and process technologies similar to those for polysilicon. This new interest is in addition to SiC’s potential for extending MEMS instrumentation capabilities to harsh application environments (e.g., characterized by high temperatures, high stresses, corrosive and erosive environments, radiation, etc.).

An overview of the speaker’s research in SiC MEMS will be presented. The centerpiece of the presentation will highlight silicon carbide material and process technologies being developed to enable the utilization of MEMS instrumentation in harsh environments. In this context, the presentation will for example describe the development of a high-throughput, LPCVD reactor and process for depositing poly-SiC on large-area substrates at 900?C. Additionally, the development of 3C-SiC on insulator substrates will be described, including materials related performance results from basic devices fabricated on these substrates.

BIO:
Mehran Mehregany received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Missouri in 1984, and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1986 and 1990, respectively. From 1986 to 1990, he was a consultant to the Robotic Systems Research Department at AT&T Bell Laboratories, where he was a key contributor to ground-breaking research in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). In 1990, he joined the Department of Electrical Engineering and Applied Physics at Case Western Reserve University as an Assistant Professor. He was awarded the Nord Assistant Professorship in 1991, was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in July 1994, and was promoted to Full Professor in July 1997. He held the George S. Dively Professor of Engineering Endowed Chair from January 1998 until July 2000, when he was appointed the BFGoodrich Professor of Engineering Innovation. He served as the Director of the MEMS Research Center at CWRU from July 1995 until July 2000. Professor Mehregany is well known for his research in the area of MEMS, and his work has been widely covered by domestic and foreign media. He has over 200 publications describing his work, holds 12 U.S. patents, and is the recipient of a number of awards/honors. He served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering from January 1996 to December 1997, and is Assistant-to-the-President of the Transducers Research Foundation. His research interests include silicon and silicon carbide MEMS, micromachining and microfabrication technologies, materials and modeling issues related to MEMS and IC technologies, and MEMS packaging.