Silicon MEMS are regarded as a key enabling technology for the future digitalization of societies, thus being a decisive factor for the competitiveness of the European economy. The fields of application of microsystems include virtually every area of daily life and industry, ranging from e.g. the chemical engineering sector, via automotive, computer science and telecommunications to biotechnology and medical - in other words, MEMS devices and the corresponding systems are highly interdisciplinary!
Based on the content of the Bachelor lecture Sensors and Sensor Systems, the course provides in-depth knowledge in the field of MEMS components and systems. After a compact introduction, selected sensory components will be presented and discussed, such as angular rate sensors, microphones or pressure sensors for operation temperatures above 600°C. In addition, we will introduce simplified elastic models for the description of eigenmode dynamics of cantilever-type structures, one of the main building blocks in MEMS. Furthermore, we discuss the principles and limitations of eigenmode analysis when using the finite element method.
The second part focuses on microactuators, introducing basic principles and device concepts, based on e.g. the electrostatic or the piezoelectric transducer principle. On device level, this includes MEMS resonators and their mode-dependent resonant properties, as well as typical device concepts for analog and digital sound generation (MEMS loudspeakers).
The third lecture block focuses on micromachined, silicon carbide (SiC) based devices including biocompatibility aspects. This interesting features as well as applications in the field of SiC-based MEMS sensors and actuators are presented.
