The bonding of glass substrates is an important process in the fabrication of glass micro/nanofluidic devices. In this study, the influence of the surface roughness of glass substrates after low-temperature bonding is investigated. It is found that plasma etching can be used to control the surface roughness to the range 2–9 nm. Substrates with a roughness of 5 nm or less can be bonded. The pressure capacity of devices tends to decrease with increasing surface roughness. A pressure capacity of 500 kPa or higher is obtained with a surface roughness of 2 nm or less. This criterion for bonding conditions can be applied to roughness formed by other methods (e.g. via a Cr layer). The proposed approach will facilitate the design and fabrication of glass micro/nanofluidic devices, especially those that complicated fabrication processes or embedding of multiple materials.
{"title":"Relationship between bonding strength and surface roughness in low-temperature bonding of glass for micro/nanofluidic device","authors":"Ryoichi Ohta, Kyojiro Morikawa, Yoshiyuki Tsuyama, Takehiko Kitamori","doi":"10.1088/1361-6439/ad104c","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6439/ad104c","url":null,"abstract":"The bonding of glass substrates is an important process in the fabrication of glass micro/nanofluidic devices. In this study, the influence of the surface roughness of glass substrates after low-temperature bonding is investigated. It is found that plasma etching can be used to control the surface roughness to the range 2–9 nm. Substrates with a roughness of 5 nm or less can be bonded. The pressure capacity of devices tends to decrease with increasing surface roughness. A pressure capacity of 500 kPa or higher is obtained with a surface roughness of 2 nm or less. This criterion for bonding conditions can be applied to roughness formed by other methods (e.g. via a Cr layer). The proposed approach will facilitate the design and fabrication of glass micro/nanofluidic devices, especially those that complicated fabrication processes or embedding of multiple materials.","PeriodicalId":16346,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering","volume":"16 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2023-12-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138686787","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-12-06DOI: 10.1088/1361-6439/ad104d
Chuang Yuan, Jianyu Fu, Fan Qu, Qiong Zhou
MEMS thermal vacuum sensors have been widely applied in many academic and industry fields, and pressure range is a key performance of MEMS thermal vacuum sensors. To extend the pressure range, a combined MEMS thermal vacuum sensor that consists of two diode-type MEMS thermal vacuum sensors in series is proposed in this work. The two diode-type sensors are designed to have different areas of sensitive region and distances between sensitive region and heat sink, and their responses to the pressure are from 3.0 × 10−3 to 3 × 104 Pa and from 1.7 × 10−2 to 4.4 × 105 Pa, respectively. By series-connecting them, the combined sensor achieves a pressure range of 1.3 × 10−3 to 6.9 × 105 Pa without any additional control circuit. In addition, it possesses a relatively small size of 400 × 300 μm2. These indicate that the combined MEMS thermal vacuum sensor has the characteristics of wide pressure range, high sensitivity and small size.
{"title":"A combined MEMS thermal vacuum sensor with a wide pressure range","authors":"Chuang Yuan, Jianyu Fu, Fan Qu, Qiong Zhou","doi":"10.1088/1361-6439/ad104d","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6439/ad104d","url":null,"abstract":"MEMS thermal vacuum sensors have been widely applied in many academic and industry fields, and pressure range is a key performance of MEMS thermal vacuum sensors. To extend the pressure range, a combined MEMS thermal vacuum sensor that consists of two diode-type MEMS thermal vacuum sensors in series is proposed in this work. The two diode-type sensors are designed to have different areas of sensitive region and distances between sensitive region and heat sink, and their responses to the pressure are from 3.0 × 10<sup>−3</sup> to 3 × 10<sup>4</sup> Pa and from 1.7 × 10<sup>−2</sup> to 4.4 × 10<sup>5</sup> Pa, respectively. By series-connecting them, the combined sensor achieves a pressure range of 1.3 × 10<sup>−3</sup> to 6.9 × 10<sup>5</sup> Pa without any additional control circuit. In addition, it possesses a relatively small size of 400 × 300 <italic toggle=\"yes\">μ</italic>m<sup>2</sup>. These indicate that the combined MEMS thermal vacuum sensor has the characteristics of wide pressure range, high sensitivity and small size.","PeriodicalId":16346,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2023-12-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138686331","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-12-05DOI: 10.1088/1361-6439/ad124e
Ali Reda, Thomas Dargent, Steve Arscott
The dynamic response of a structure is a manifestation of its inherent characteristics, including material density, mechanical modulus, thermo- and viscoelastic properties, and geometric properties. Together, these factors influence how the material behaves in dynamic scenarios, dictating its damping properties and behaviour under varying forces. In this study we present a novel approach to accurately determine the flexural (bending) modulus of microscopic diameter natural fibres (flax) using microcantilever vibration analysis. Traditionally, the characterisation of the mechanical properties of fibres has relied on macroscopic methods such as tensile testing, which often results in high scatter in measurement data; furthermore, tensile testing does not accurately represent microscale or dynamic conditions and can be complex in terms of sample preparation and loading. To address this, we have developed a microscale technique involving the fabrication of microcantilevers using flat polypropylene support chips, inspired by microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) approaches. Our approach provides a refined method for accurately characterising the mechanical modulus of flax fibres, with reduced data dispersion compared to traditional macroscopic testing. Furthermore, by reducing the influence of inherent fibre defects and maintaining homogeneity along the length of the fibre, our micro-scale technique provides reliable modulus determination. This work opens up avenues for improved understanding and application of natural and man-made fibres, such as glass and optical fibres, in a variety of fields.
{"title":"Dynamic micromechanical measurement of the flexural modulus of micrometre-sized diameter single natural fibres using a vibrating microcantilever technique","authors":"Ali Reda, Thomas Dargent, Steve Arscott","doi":"10.1088/1361-6439/ad124e","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6439/ad124e","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 The dynamic response of a structure is a manifestation of its inherent characteristics, including material density, mechanical modulus, thermo- and viscoelastic properties, and geometric properties. Together, these factors influence how the material behaves in dynamic scenarios, dictating its damping properties and behaviour under varying forces. In this study we present a novel approach to accurately determine the flexural (bending) modulus of microscopic diameter natural fibres (flax) using microcantilever vibration analysis. Traditionally, the characterisation of the mechanical properties of fibres has relied on macroscopic methods such as tensile testing, which often results in high scatter in measurement data; furthermore, tensile testing does not accurately represent microscale or dynamic conditions and can be complex in terms of sample preparation and loading. To address this, we have developed a microscale technique involving the fabrication of microcantilevers using flat polypropylene support chips, inspired by microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) approaches. Our approach provides a refined method for accurately characterising the mechanical modulus of flax fibres, with reduced data dispersion compared to traditional macroscopic testing. Furthermore, by reducing the influence of inherent fibre defects and maintaining homogeneity along the length of the fibre, our micro-scale technique provides reliable modulus determination. This work opens up avenues for improved understanding and application of natural and man-made fibres, such as glass and optical fibres, in a variety of fields.","PeriodicalId":16346,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering","volume":"53 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2023-12-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138598539","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-11-28DOI: 10.1088/1361-6439/ad0d80
Ioannis Lampouras, Mathias Holz, Steffen Strehle, Julia Körner
Dynamic-mode cantilever sensors are based on the principle of a one-side clamped beam being excited to oscillate at or close to its resonance frequency. An external interaction on the cantilever alters its oscillatory state, and this change can be detected and used for quantification of the external influence (e.g. a force or mass load). A very promising approach to significantly improve sensitivity without modifying the established laser-based oscillation transduction is the co-resonant coupling of a micro- and a nanocantilever. Thereby, each resonator is optimized for a specific purpose, i.e. the microcantilever for reliable oscillation detection and the nanocantilever for highest sensitivity through low rigidity and mass. To achieve the co-resonant state, the eigenfrequencies of micro- and nanocantilever need to be adjusted so that they differ by less than approximately 20%. This can either be realized by mass deposition or trimming of the nanocantilever, or by choice of dimensions. While the former is a manual and error-prone process, the latter would enable reproducible batch fabrication of coupled systems with predefined eigenfrequency matching states and therefore sensor properties. However, the approach is very challenging as it requires a precisely controlled fabrication process. Here, for the first time, such a process for batch fabrication of inherently geometrically eigenfrequency matched co-resonant cantilever structures is presented and characterized. It is based on conventional microfabrication techniques and the structures are made from 1 µm thick low-stress silicon nitride. They comprise the microcantilever and high aspect ratio nanocantilever (width 2 µm, thickness about 100 nm, lengths up to 80 µm) which are successfully realized with only minimal bending. An average yield of