I

Background and
Fundamentals

1 Introduction Mohamed Gad-el-Hak

2 Scaling of Micromechanical Devices William Trimmer, Robert H. Stroud
Introduction • The Log Plot • Scaling of Mechanical Systems
3 Mechanical Properties of MEMS Materials William N. Sharpe, Jr.
Introduction • Mechanical Property Definitions • Test Methods • Mechanical
Properties • Initial Design Values
4 Flow Physics Mohamed Gad-el-Hak
Introduction • Flow Physics • Fluid Modeling • Continuum
Model • Compressibility • Boundary Conditions • Molecular-Based
Models • Liquid Flows • Surface Phenomena • Parting Remarks
5 Integrated Simulation for MEMS: Coupling Flow-Structure-Thermal-Electrical
Domains Robert M. Kirby, George Em Karniadakis, Oleg Mikulchenko,
Kartikeya Mayaram
Abstract • Introduction • Coupled Circuit-Device Simulation • Overview of
Simulators • Circuit-Microfluidic Device Simulation • Demonstrations of the Integrated
Simulation Approach • Summary and Discussion
6 Liquid Flows in Microchannels Kendra V. Sharp, Ronald J. Adrian,
Juan G. Santiago, Joshua I. Molho
Introduction • Experimental Studies of Flow Through Microchannels • Electrokinetics
Background • Summary and Conclusions
7 Burnett Simulations of Flows in Microdevices Ramesh K. Agarwal,
Keon-Young Yun
Abstract • Introduction • History of Burnett Equations • Governing Equations •
Wall-Boundary Conditions • Linearized Stability Analysis of Burnett Equations •
Numerical Method • Numerical Simulations • Conclusions
8 Molecular-Based Microfluidic Simulation Models Ali Beskok
Abstract • Introduction • Gas Flows • Liquid and Dense Gas Flows • Summary and
Conclusions

© 2002 by CRC Press LLC

 9 Lubrication in MEMS Kenneth S. Breuer
Introduction • Fundamental Scaling Issues • Governing Equations for
Lubrication • Couette-Flow Damping • Squeeze-Film Damping • Lubrication
in Rotating Devices • Constraints on MEMS Bearing Geometries • Thrust
Bearings • Journal Bearings • Fabrication Issues • Tribology
and Wear • Conclusions
10 Physics of Thin Liquid Films Alexander Oron
Introduction • The Evolution Equation for a Liquid Film on a Solid Surface •
Isothermal Films • Thermal Effects • Change of Phase: Evaporation
and Condensation • Closing Remarks
11 Bubble/Drop Transport in Microchannels Hsueh-Chia Chang
Introduction • Fundamentals • The Bretherton Problem for Pressure-Driven
Bubble/Drop Transport • Bubble Transport by Electrokinetic Flow • Future
Directions
12 Fundamentals of Control Theory Bill Goodwine
Introduction • Classical Linear Control • “Modern” Control • Nonlinear
Control • Parting Remarks
13 Model-Based Flow Control for Distributed Architectures Thomas R. Bewley
Introduction • Linearization: Life in a Small Neighborhood • Linear Stabilization:
Leveraging Modern Linear Control Theory • Decentralization: Designing for Massive
Arrays • Localization: Relaxing Nonphysical Assumptions • Compensator Reduction:
Eliminating Unnecessary Complexity • Extrapolation: Linear Control of Nonlinear
Systems • Generalization: Extending to Spatially Developing Flows • Nonlinear
Optimization: Local Solutions for Full Navier–Stokes • Robustification: Appealing to
Murphy’s Law • Unification: Synthesizing a General Framework • Decomposition:
Simulation-Based System Modeling • Global Stabilization: Conservatively Enhancing
Stability • Adaptation: Accounting for a Changing Environment • Performance
Limitation: Identifying Ideal Control Targets • Implementation: Evaluating
Engineering Trade-Offs • Discussion: A Common Language for Dialog •
The Future: A Renaissance
14 Soft Computing in Control Mihir Sen, Bill Goodwine
Introduction • Artificial Neural Networks • Genetic Algorithms • Fuzzy Logic
and Fuzzy Control • Conclusions

© 2002 by CRC Press LLC

 Introduction
1
Mohamed Gad-el-Hak
University of Notre Dame

How many times when you are working on something frustratingly tiny, like your wife’s wrist watch, have
you said to yourself, “If I could only train an ant to do this!” What I would like to suggest is the possibility
of training an ant to train a mite to do this. What are the possibilities of small but movable machines?
They may or may not be useful, but they surely would be fun to make.
(From the talk “There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom,” delivered by Richard P. Feynman at the
annual meeting of the American Physical Society, Pasadena, CA, December 29, 1959.)
Tool making has always differentiated our species from all others on Earth. Aerodynamically correct
wooden spears were carved by archaic Homo sapiens close to 400,000 years ago. Man builds things
consistent with his size, typically in the range of two orders of magnitude larger or smaller than himself,
as indicated in Figure 1.1. Though the extremes of the length scale are outside the range of this figure,
0
man, at slightly more than 10 m, amazingly fits right in the middle of the smallest subatomic particle,
−26 26
which is approximately 10 m, and the extent of the observable universe, which is of the order of 10 m
(15 billion light years)—neither geocentric nor heliocentric but rather an egocentric universe! But
humans have always striven to explore, build and control the extremes of length and time scales. In the
voyages to Lilliput and Brobdingnag of Gulliver’s Travels, Jonathan Swift (1726) speculates on the remark-
1
able possibilities which diminution or magnification of physical dimensions provides. The Great Pyramid
of Khufu was originally 147 m high when completed around 2600 B.C., while the Empire State Building
constructed in 1931 is currently—after the addition of a television antenna mast in 1950—449 m high.
At the other end of the spectrum of man-made artifacts, a dime is slightly less than 2 cm in diameter.
Watchmakers have practiced the art of miniaturization since the 13th century. The invention of the
microscope in the 17th century opened the way for direct observation of microbes and plant and animal
cells. Smaller things were man-made in the latter half of the 20th century. The transistor—invented in
2
1947—in today’s integrated circuits has a size of 0.18 µm (180 nm) in production and approaches 10 nm
in research laboratories using electron beams. But what about the miniaturization of mechanical
parts—machines—envisioned by Feynman (1961) in his legendary speech quoted above?

1
Gulliver’s Travels was originally designed to form part of a satire on the abuse of human learning. At the heart
of the story is a radical critique of human nature in which subtle ironic techniques work to part the reader from any
comfortable preconceptions and challenge him to rethink from first principles his notions of man.
2
The smallest feature on a microchip is defined by its smallest linewidth, which in turn is related to the wavelength
of light employed in the basic lithographic process used to create the chip.

© 2002 by CRC Press LLC

102 104 106 108 1010 1012 1014 1016 1018 1020

10 -16 10-14 10-12 10-10 10-8 10-6 10-4 10-2 100 102

Diameter of Proton

Typical Man-Made
Devices

6 9 10
FIGURE 1.1 Scale of things, in meters. Lower scale continues in the upper bar from left to right. One meter is 10 µm, 10 nm or 10 Å.

© 2002 by CRC Press LLC

 Manufacturing processes that can create extremely small machines have been developed in recent
years [Angell et al., 1983; Gabriel et al., 1988; 1992; O’Connor, 1992; Gravesen et al., 1993; Bryzek et al.,
1994; Gabriel, 1995; Ashley, 1996; Ho and Tai, 1996; 1998; Hogan, 1996; Ouellette, 1996; Paula, 1996;
Robinson et al., 1996a; 1996b; Madou, 1997; Tien, 1997; Amato, 1998; Busch-Vishniac, 1998; Kovacs,
1998; Knight, 1999; Epstein, 2000; Goldin et al., 2000; O’Connor and Hutchinson, 2000; Chalmers, 2001;
Tang and Lee, 2001]. Electrostatic, magnetic, electromagnetic, pneumatic and thermal actuators, motors,
valves, gears, cantilevers, diaphragms and tweezers less than 100 µm in size have been fabricated. These
have been used as sensors for pressure, temperature, mass flow, velocity, sound and chemical composition;
as actuators for linear and angular motions; and as simple components for complex systems such as
robots, micro-heat-engines and micro-heat-pumps [Lipkin, 1993; Garcia and Sniegowski, 1993; 1995;
Sniegowski and Garcia, 1996; Epstein and Senturia, 1997; Epstein et al., 1997].
Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) refer to devices that have a characteristic length of less than
1 mm but more than 1 µm, that combine electrical and mechanical components and that are fabricated
using integrated circuit batch-processing technologies. The books by Madou (1997) and Kovacs (1998)
provide excellent sources for microfabrication technology. Current manufacturing techniques for MEMS
include surface silicon micromachining; bulk silicon micromachining; lithography, electrodeposition and
plastic molding (or, in its original German, lithographie galvanoformung abformung, LIGA); and elec-
trodischarge machining (EDM). As indicated in Figure 1.1, MEMS are more than four orders of magni-
tude larger than the diameter of the hydrogen atom, but about four orders of magnitude smaller than
the traditional man-made artifacts. Microdevices can have characteristic lengths smaller than the diameter
of a human hair. Nanodevices (some say NEMS) further push the envelope of electromechanical min-
iaturization [Roco, 2001].
3
The famed physicist Richard P. Feynman delivered a mere two, but profound, lectures on electrome-
chanical miniaturization: “There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom,” quoted above, and “Infinitesimal
Machinery,” presented at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory on February 23, 1983. He could not see a lot of
use for micromachines, lamenting in 1959: “[Small but movable machines] may or may not be useful,
but they surely would be fun to make,” and, 24 years later, “There is no use for these machines, so I still
don’t understand why I’m fascinated by the question of making small machines with movable and
controllable parts.” Despite Feynman’s demurring regarding the usefulness of small machines, MEMS
are finding increased applications in a variety of industrial and medical fields, with a potential worldwide
market in the billions of dollars ($30 billion by 2004). Accelerometers for automobile airbags, keyless
entry systems, dense arrays of micromirrors for high-definition optical displays, scanning electron micro-
scope tips to image single atoms, micro-heat-exchangers for cooling of electronic circuits, reactors for
separating biological cells, blood analyzers and pressure sensors for catheter tips are but a few in current
use. Microducts are used in infrared detectors, diode lasers, miniature gas chromatographs and high-
frequency fluidic control systems. Micropumps are used for ink-jet printing, environmental testing and
electronic cooling. Potential medical applications for small pumps include controlled delivery and mon-
itoring of minute amounts of medication, manufacturing of nanoliters of chemicals and development
of an artificial pancreas.
This multidisciplinary field has witnessed explosive growth during the last decade. Several new journals
are dedicated to the science and technology of MEMS—for example, Journal of Microelectromechanical
Systems, Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering and Microscale Thermophysical Engineering.
Numerous professional meetings are devoted to micromachines—for example, Solid-State Sensor and
Actuator Workshop, International Conference on Solid-State Sensors and Actuators (Transducers), Micro
Electro Mechanical Systems Workshop, Micro Total Analysis Systems, Eurosensors, etc.
This handbook covers several aspects of microelectromechanical systems, or more broadly the art and
science of electromechanical miniaturization. MEMS design, fabrication and application as well as the
physical modeling of their materials, transport phenomena and operations are discussed. Chapters on

3
Both talks have been reprinted in the Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems 1(1), pp. 60–66, 1992; 2(1),
pp. 4–14, 1993.

© 2002 by CRC Press LLC

the electrical, structural, fluidic, transport and control aspects of MEMS are included. Other chapters
cover existing and potential applications of microdevices in a variety of fields including instrumentation
and distributed control. Physical understanding of the different phenomena unique to micromachines
is emphasized throughout this book. The handbook is divided into four parts: Part I provides background
and physical considerations, Part II discusses the design and fabrication of microdevices, Part III reviews
a few of the applications of microsensors and microactuators, and Part IV ponders the future of the field.
The 36 chapters are written by the world’s foremost authorities on this multidisciplinary subject. The
contributing authors come from academia, government and industry. Without compromising rigorous-
ness, the text is designed for maximum readability by a broad audience having an engineering or science
background. The nature of the book—being a handbook and not an encyclopedia—and its size limitation
dictate the exclusion of several important topics in the MEMS area of research and development.
Our objective is to provide a current overview of the fledgling discipline and its future developments
for the benefit of working professionals and researchers. The handbook will be a useful guide and reference
to the explosive literature on MEMS and should provide the definitive word for the fundamentals and
applications of microfabrication and microdevices. Glancing at the table of contents, the reader may
rightly sense an overemphasis on the physics of microdevices. This is consistent with the strong conviction
of the editor-in-chief that the MEMS technology is moving too fast relative to our understanding of the
unconventional physics involved. This technology can certainly benefit from a solid foundation of the
underlying fundamentals. If the physics is better understood, better, less expensive and more efficient
microdevices can be designed, built and operated for a variety of existing and yet-to-be-dreamed appli-
cations. Consistent with this philosophy, chapters on control theory, distributed control and soft com-
puting are included as the backbone of the futuristic idea of using colossal numbers of microsensors and
microactuators in reactive control strategies aimed at taming turbulent flows to achieve substantial energy
savings and performance improvements of vehicles and other man-made devices.
I shall leave you now for the many wonders of the small world you are about to encounter when navigating
through the various chapters that follow. May your voyage to Lilliput be as exhilarating, enchanting and
enlightening as Lemuel Gulliver’s Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. Hekinah degul!
Jonathan Swift may not have been a good biologist and his scaling laws were not as good as those of
William Trimmer (see Chapter 2 of this book), but Swift most certainly was a magnificent storyteller.
Hnuy illa nyha majah Yahoo!

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