Microelectromechanical Systems - Materials and Devices IV: Volume 1299
MRS Proceedings Series

Symposium S, 'Microelectromechanical Systems - Materials and Devices IV', held November 29?December 3 at the 2010 MRS Fall Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, focused on micro- and nanoelectromechanical systems (MEMS/NEMS), technologies which were spawned from the fabrication and integration of small-scale mechanical, electrical, thermal, magnetic, fluidic and optical sensors and actuators with micro-electronic components. MEMS and NEMS have enabled performance enhancements and manufacturing cost reductions in a number of applications, including optical displays, acceleration sensing, radio-frequency switching, drug delivery, chemical detection and power generation and storage. Although originally based on silicon microelectronics, the reach of MEMS and NEMS has extended well beyond traditional engineering materials and now includes nanomaterials (nanotubes, nanowires, nanoparticles), smart materials (piezoelectric and ferroelectric materials, shape memory alloys, pH-sensitive polymers), metamaterials and biomaterials (ceramic, metallic, polymeric, composite-based implant materials). While these new materials provide more freedom with regards to the design space of MEMS and NEMS, they also introduce a number of new fabrication and characterization challenges not previously encountered with silicon-based technology.

Part I. Material Development and Optimization: 1. Biodegradable microfluidic scaffolds with tunable degradation properties from amino alcohol-based poly(ester amide) elastomers Jane Wang; 2. Measurements of resonance frequency of parylene microspring arrays using atomic force microscopy Churamani Gaire; 3. Gold in flux-less bonding: noble or not noble Marco Balucani; 4. Giant piezoresistive variation of metal particles dispersed in PDMS matrix Stefano Stassi; 5. Characterization of Group III-nitride based surface acoustic wave devices for high temperature applications J. Justice; 6. Transport model for microfluidic device for cell culture and tissue development Niraj Inamdar; 7. Refractive index memory effect of ferroelectric materials by domain control Kazuhiko Inoue; 8. Synthesis and control of ZnS nanodots and nanorods with different crystalline structure from an identical raw material solution and the excitonic UV emission Masato Uehara; 9. Improving PZT thin film texture through Pt metallization and seed layers Luz Sanchez; Part II. Process Integration: 10. Patterning nanomaterials on fragile micromachined structures using electron beam lithography Srikar Vengallatore; 11. Pt/TiO2 growth templates for enhanced PZT films and MEMS devices Daniel Potrepka; 12. Contact resistivity of laser annealed SiGe for MEMS structural layers deposited at 210°C Joumana El-Rifai; 13. PZT thick films for 100 MHz ultrasonic transducers fabricated using chemical solution deposition process Naoto Kochi; 14. Reliability and stability of thin-film amorphous silicon MEMS on glass substrates Pedro Sousa; 15. High yield polymer MEMS process for CMOS/MEMS integration V. Seena; 16. Characterization of textured PZT thin films prepared by sol-gel method onto stainless steel substrates Xuelian Zhao; Part III. Micro- and Nanosensors: 17. A picowatt energy harvester Joseph Evans; 18. Mechanical and material characterization of bilayer microcantilever-based IR detectors Xin Zhang; 19. Film conductivity controlled variation of the amplitude distribution of high-temperature resonators Silja Schmidtchen; 20. Ultrafine silicon nano-wall hollow needles and applications in inclination sensor and gas transport Zeinab Sanaee; 21. Development of a robust design for wet etched co-integrated pressure sensor systems Reinhart Job; 22. SU8/modified MWNT composite for piezoresistive sensor application V. Seena; 23. Thin film amorphous silicon bulk-mode disk resonators fabricated on glass substrates Alexandra Gualdino; 24. Fabrication and characterization of MEMS-based structures from a bio-inspired, chemo-responsive polymer nanocomposite Allison Hess; Part IV. Material and Device Reliability: 25. Characterizing the effect of uniaxial strain on the surface roughness of Si nanowire MEMS-based microstructures Enrique Escobedo-Cousin; 26. Mechanism of hole inlet closure in shape transformation of hole arrays on Si(001) substrates by hydrogen annealing Reiko Hiruta; 27. Characterisation of hydrophobic forces in liquid self assembly of micron sized functional building blocks Maurizio Gullo; 28. Nanoindentation characterization of PECVD silicon nitride on silicon subjected to mechanical fatigue loading Kuo-Shen Chen; 29. Effect of phosphorus doping on the Young's modulus and stress of polysilicon thin films Elena Bassiachvili; 30. Residual stress in sputtered silicon oxycarbide thin films Xin Zhang; 31. Solid bridging during pattern collapse (stiction) studied on silicon nanoparticles Daniel Peter; 32. Fabrication and characterization of two compliant electrical contacts for MEMS: gallium microdroplets and carbon nanotube turfs Yoonkap Kim.