In recent years, a very large amount of scientific work has been achieved around Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS). Some industrial success stories (accelerometers, gyroscopes and MOEMS) have shown their maturity. MEMS are now starting to take place around us in our everyday life as the microelectronic did 20 years ago. However, a lot of effort is still needed for the integration of ICs a...

The paper introduces an electro-mechanical transducer finite element (EMT) for the strongly coupled simulation of micro electro-mechanical system (MEMS) devices in the commercial finite element analysis (FEA) package ANSYS.

Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) is the technology of the very small, and merges at the nano-scale into "Nanoelectromechanical" Systems (NEMS) and Nanotechnology. MEMS are also referred to as micro machines, or Micro Systems Technology (MST). MEMS are separate and distinct from the hypothetical vision of Molecular nanotechnology or Molecular Electronics. MEMS generally range in size from a...

We report design and fabrication process of MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) actuators for a new type of optical switch integrated with photonic crystal (PhC) waveguides. Thin film poly-silicon electrostatic microactuator (either a cantilever or a bridge style) is placed over a PhC waveguide to induce optical modulation by means of mechanical motion in the evanescent fields. For low volt...

Abstract Flexoelectricity is a universal electro-mechanical coupling effect that occurs in dielectrics of all symmetric groups and becomes dominant at the micro- nano-scales. It plays an important role evaluating micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) such as energy harvesters which convert vibrational to electric energy. At finer length scales, micro-inertia effects significantly contribute b...

A submicroscale flow sensor has been developed that consists of a suspended hot film and carbon nanotube (CNT) fins. Flow measurement experiments, together with a theoretical model, revealed the advantages of the use of CNT fins. The suspended metal film reduces heat loss and the CNT fins enhance the heat transfer to the fluid flow. Herein, the working principle of the CNT fins is presented in ...

Widespread acceptance of micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) depends highly on their reliability, both for large-volume commercialization and for critical applications. The problem of multiple dependent failure processes is of particular interest to MEMS researchers. For MEMS devices subjected to both wear degradation and random shocks that are dependent and competing, we propose a new reli...

Failure of packaged polysilicon micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) subjected to impacts involves phenomena occurring at several length-scales. In this paper we present a multi-scale finite element approach to properly allow for: (i) the propagation of stress waves inside the package; (ii) the dynamics of the whole MEMS; (iii) the spreading of micro-cracking in the failing part(s) of the se...

Biological and medical application of micro-electro-mechanical-systems (MEMS) is currently seen as an area of high potential impact. Integration of biology and microtechnology has resulted in the development of a number of platforms for improving biomedical and pharmaceutical technologies. This review provides a general overview of the applications and the opportunities presented by MEMS in med...