Silicon Carbide Microel Ectromechanical Systems For Harsh Environments

ECHTOR RebECCA ChEUNq SilicoN CARbidE MicRO EIECTROMEC^ANICAI SySTEMS fOR HARsh ENVIRONMENTS Imperial College Press SilicoN CARbidE MicRO EIECTROMEC^ANICAI SysTEivis foR HARSN ENVIRONMENTS This page is intentionally left blank EcllTOR REbECCA ChEuiNq University of Edinburgh, UK SilicoN CARbidE MicRO EIECTROMEC^ANICAI SYSTEMS foil HARSII I'-NVikO-X-Vlf MS Imperial College Press Published by Imperial College Press 57 Shelton Street Covent Garden London WC2H 9HE Distributed by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. 5 Toh Tuck Link, Singapore 596224 USA office: 27 Warren Street, Suite 401-402, Hackensack, NJ 07601 UK office: 57 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9HE British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. SILICON CARBIDE MICROELECTROMECHANICAL SYSTEMS FOR HARSH ENVIRONMENTS Copyright © 2006 by Imperial College Press All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without written permission from the Publisher. For photocopying of material in this volume, please pay a copying fee through the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. In this case permission to photocopy is not required from the publisher. ISBN 1-86094-624-0 Editor: Tjan Kwang Wei Printed in Singapore by World Scientific Printers (S) Pte Ltd PREFACE First of all, I would like to thank all the expert contributors to this book, without whom this project would not have been possible. My deepest acknowledgments also go to those at the Scottish Microelectronics Centre who in one way or another have contributed to the science and technology described in chapter one of this book. It has been the aim that a manuscript on silicon carbide (SiC) microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) be edited so that up-to-date information can be condensed into book form, easily accessible by the academic community as well as commercial companies. The present book contains high-quality information concerning SiC MEMS for harsh environments summarised and distilled for students, academics and researchers engaging in SiC MEMS to use and, I hope, serves as a valuable contribution to the MEMS community. Microelectromechanical systems are essentially mechanical devices/sensors at the micro-scale. Applications of MEMS are wide ranging including for instance, miniaturised sensors for acceleration and pressure, wind sensors that mimic cricket hairs and microfluidic pumps for biomedicine. The main advantage of SiC as compared to Si is naturally the mechanical and chemical stability of the material. Once the material properties favours certain types of applications such as high temperature and harsh environments, there creates an impetus to advance the science and engineerin