Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) support the acceleration of existing microelectronic systems trends including edge computing, robotics & automation, Industry 4.0, mobility, biometrics, and augmented/virtual reality. In these applications, the performance of the current MEMS devices needs to be improved vastly in the field of latency, accuracy, sensitivity, energy efficiency, fail- operational level reliability and miniaturization. However, shortcomings in the current approaches to MEMS design limit the prospects. At the MEMS component level, sensing is achieved by static or resonant motion in mutual or perpendicular directions as the motion being measured. Currently, this directional behaviour require complex designs that adds to costs in manufacturability, increased device sizes and waste.
This project focuses on a disruptive new approach to fabricating MEMS components. The technology, called 3DPiezoMEMS, addresses the problem of simultaneous in- and out-of-plane element motion. This is enabled by depositing piezoelectric aluminium nitride (AlN) on the vertical and horizonal surfaces of a MEMS element, giving the design fully unhindered 3D-motion. Having fully integrated 3D-motion reduces MEMS element complexity, reducing overall the costs and size of MEMS devices. In addition, the use of PiezoMEMS brings significant power reduction for the actuation and sensing due to the intrinsic mechanical-electrical coupling behaviour of piezoelectric materials.
