Materials Science of Microelectromechanical Systems (Mems) Devices II Symposium Held November 29-December 1, 1999, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A

Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) hold great promise for sensing and actuating on the micron scale. Examples, to name a few, include accelerometers, gyroscopes, optical switches, image correctors and displays, microrelays, printheads, flow sensors, medical devices, DNA decoders, and memory storage devices. There is a hierarchy of increasing difficulty for placing MEMS devices in the field. Devices that do not allow contact between structural members rely mainly on mechanical properties of freestanding films. High-resolution techniques must be developed within the framework of MEMS to measure properties such as modulus, residual stress, creep, fracture and fatigue. When contact and rubbing contact are allowed, the complexities of adhesion and friction at the microscale must be understood and well controlled. Fluid interactions are similarly important for microfluidic devices. Packaging of MEMS for use in the field also requires special consideration, because it is often application specific. This volume brings together a large group of researchers to investigate various materials, characterization methods and processing techniques. These approaches represent different but useful strategies to solve MEMS challenges, and must be integrated for product realization.DeBoer, M. P. is the author of 'Materials Science of Microelectromechanical Systems (Mems) Devices II Symposium Held November 29-December 1, 1999, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A' with ISBN 9781558995130 and ISBN 1558995137.