Evaluation and characterization of reliable non-hermetic conformal coatings for microelectromechanical system (MEMS) device encapsulation

Evaluation and Characterization of Reliable Non-Hermetic Conformal Coatings for Microelectromechanical System (MEMS) Device Encapsulation

The thrust of this project was to evaluate commercial conformal encapsulation candidates for low cost aerospace applications. The candidate conformal coatings evaluated in this study included silicone elastomers, epoxies, and Parylenes with bi-layer or tri-layer designs. Properties characterized in this study included mobile ion permeation and moisture ingress resistance, interfacial adhesion v...

Hermetic Encapsulation

‘Hermetic sealing’ is defined by the Shorter OED as “air-tight closure of a vessel by fusion, soldering or welding”. The term ‘hermetic package’ used in the electronics industry is however at best slightly misleading, in that the term is used to describe components where the die and associated bonds are sealed within a cavity in a hollow package (as distinct from being embedded in a resin), and...

Plastic Hermetic Packages for MEMS?

The sealed hermetic package is over 100 years old if we include cathode ray and vacuum tubes. While the package has changed, the idea of making a near-perfect gas-tight enclosure has remained constant. The metal and ceramic full hermetic package may be required for applications that cannot use the non-hermetic plastic package, but is there an intermediate package choice? During the last few yea...

Liquid Encapsulation Technology for Microelectromechanical Systems

Reliability of Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS)

Reliability is a key parameter for the eventual prevalence of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) as either sub-components or as standalone products. Traditionally, micromachined components have been made by separating the micromachined chip design and fabrication processes from the packaging and reliability issues. This “evolutionary” partitioning of microsystems has led to long incubation t...