Page 23 - MEMS and Microstructures in Aerospace Applications

Osiander / MEMS and microstructures in Aerospace applications DK3181_c002 Final Proof page 14 1.9.2005 11:49am

14 MEMS and Microstructures in Aerospace Applications

Recently dramatic progress has been occurring in the development of
ultraminiature, ultralow power, and highly integrated MEMS-based microsystems
that can sense their environment, process incoming information, and respond in a
precisely controlled manner. The capability to communicate with other microscale
devices and, depending on the application, with the macroscale platforms they are
hosted on, will permit integrated and collaborative system-level behaviors. These
attributes, combined with the potential to generate power on the MEMS scale,
provide a potential for MEMS-based microsystems not only to enhance, or even
replace, today’s existing macroscale systems but also to enable entirely new classes
of microscale systems.
As described in detail in subsequent chapters of this book, the roots of the
MEMS technology revolution can be found in the substantial surface (planar)
micromachining technology investments made over the last 30 years by integrated
circuit (IC) semiconductor production houses worldwide. Broadly speaking, it is also
a revolution that exploits the integration of multidisciplinary engineering processes
and techniques at the submillimeter (hundreds of microns) device size level. The
design and development of MEMS devices leverages heavily off of well-established,
and now standard, techniques and processes for 2-D and 3-D semiconductor fabrica-
tion and packaging. MEMS technology will allow us to field new generations of
sensors and devices in which the functions of detecting, sensing, computing, actuat-
ing, controlling, communicating, and powering are all colocated in assemblies or
structures with dimensions of the order of 100–200 mm or less.
Over the past several years, industry analysts and business research organizations
have pointed to the multibillion dollar-sized global commercial marketplace for
MEMS-based devices and microsystems in such areas as the automotive industry,
communications, biomedical, chemical, and consumer products. The MEMS-
enabled ink jet printer head and the digital micromirror projection displays are
often cited examples of commercially successful products enabled by MEMS
technology. Both the MEMS airbag microaccelerometer and the tire air-pressure
sensors are excellent examples of commercial applications of MEMS in the automo-
tive industry sector. Implantable blood pressure sensors and fluidic micropumps for
in situ drug delivery are examples of MEMS application in the biomedical arena.
Given the tremendous rapid rate of technology development and adoption over
the past 100 years, one can confidently speculate that MEMS technology, especially
when coupled with the emerging developments in nanoelectromechanical systems
(NEMS) technology, has the potential to change society as did the introduction of the
telephone in 1876, the tunable radio receiver in 1916, the electronic transistor in 1947,
and the desktop personal computer (PC) in the 1970s. In the not too distant future,
once designers and manufacturers become increasingly aware of the possibilities that
arise from this technology, it may well be that MEMS-based devices and microsys-
tems become as ubiquitous and as deeply integrated in our society’s day-to-day
existence as the phone, the radio, and the PC are today.
Perhaps it is somewhat premature to draw MEMS technology parallels to the
technological revolutions initiated by such — now commonplace — household
electronics. It is, however, very probable that as more specific commercial

© 2006 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC