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Micro Devices Assembly (MDA) is an emerging domain involving the assembly of micron sized objects and devices. In this paper, the focus is the design of an IoT based Cyber Physical approach for the assembly of micro devices. An advanced IoT based framework comprising of integrated cyber and physical components has been developed to accomplish a targeted set of MDA life cycle activities which include assembly planning, Virtual Reality (VR) based assembly analysis, command generation and physical assembly. Advanced VR based environments using semi-immersive and fully immersive technologies (including Oculus Rift based platforms) have been designed to support assembly analysis where plans can be proposed, compared and validated. An information centric modeling approach is proposed to help design the data/information exchange among the various cyber and physical components and provide a structured foundation to design such complex IoT based approaches and frameworks.

We propose the smallest preload generation mechanisms that provide force between the rotor and the one cubic millimeter stator in a micro ultrasonic motor. Miniaturizing the preload mechanism is key for implementation of a micro ultrasonic motor with the best performance into micro devices. In this paper, we evaluate two kinds of preloads that exert in the axial and radial directions: an axial preload mechanism and a radial preload mechanism. The experiments clarify how both preload mechanisms improve motor performance measures such as angular velocity, torque, and efficiency. The micro ultrasonic motors with both preload mechanisms generated torque over 10 μNm at the experimentally optimized preload of approximately 6 g. By designing the miniature preload mechanisms using a micro coil spring, the preload mechanisms are miniaturized with similar motor performance. At present, they represent the smallest and most powerful ultrasonic motors with preload mechanisms.

The synthesis of multicomponent semiconducting thin films has become the subject of intensive research. The development of deposition-characterization techniques and property correlation and understanding of these materials are critical for the successful implementation of a whole new generation of advanced micro-devices. A wide range of discussion made in this article include facile chemical synthesis of Zn, Cd(CoS) thin films and characterization pertaining to the studies on compositional, morphological, optical and electrical transport aspects. The overall discussion involved herein will be useful to establish further engrossment of the researchers in the mentioned quaternary system.

Micro devices have been attracting attention accompanying industrial development in recent years. Higher-level microprocessing technique to produce them is demanded. The purpose of this study is to establish the novel technique to satisfy 3 functions: sub-μm process resolution, 3-dimensional flexibility and rapidity. This report proposed a nano-stereolithography method using evanescent light instead of propagating light in order to achieve the required functions. However, there are some important problems in exposing and curing process because of oxygen dissolved in photosensitive resin. Nitrogen purge was introduced to exposing unit to remove oxygen from the resin, which allowed us to solve the problem in exposing and curing process.

A new methodology is proposed to couple Molecular Dynamics (MD) and Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) methods to simulate high Knudsen number (Kn) flows. For this purpose a two-dimensional hybrid MD-DSMC code is developed. In this method gas-surface interactions are modeled using MD, and gas-gas interactions are modeled using DSMC method. Two-way coupling between MD and DSMC is implemented by employing buffer zones for both MD and DSMC regions. Bootstrap sampling and energy minimization algorithms are employed for dynamic coupling of these two methods since MD utilizes real number of molecules during simulation whereas DSMC utilizes a lesser number of simulated molecules. The hybrid methodology combines the advantages of both methods; it has the capability of modeling the gas-surface interaction accurately considering the effect of the presence of neighboring real number of gas molecules, while in the bulk it utilizes DSMC with only the simulated number of molecules thus increasing the computational efficiency significantly compared to pure MD codes. As a result comparatively large domain sizes can be simulated with realistic behavior at the walls. The utility of the hybrid method is demonstrated by simulating high Kn flows through a micro-channel, micro-nozzle and micro-scale shock tube. The effect of partial accommodation of gas molecules with the wall is seen to be captured dynamically with this approach. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Many modern composites consist of dielectric polymer matrices containing embedded spherical particles. These particles can be electrically conducting and often have magnetic properties. In order to accurately model and simulate such materials, precise calculation of the electrical capacitance between identically sized spheres is required. This is of particular relevance at microscopic dimensions where many smart material-based micro devices are concerned. This may appear trivial for a small number of particles. However, many methods or their analysis appear to be questionable or not applicable at reduced dimensions. In this work, the various methods of analysis are scrutinized before being compared with both simulation and direct measurements. It is surprising to note that of the many works investigated only 3 are in close agreement with both simulation and measurement.

In this study, we have investigated the adhesion phenomena between two sidewalls in boron-doped ultrananocrystalline diamond (B-UNCD) micro-electro mechanical systems (MEMS) in a humid and dry environment. We have developed and built B-UNCD MEMS test devices, in order to assess the tribological properties of diamond micro devices in-situ. Using these devices, we have been able to measure the adhesion force with approximately 15 ]-->nN resolution, by monitoring the displacement optically with a precision of 4 nm. In the case of testing in a dry atmosphere, virtually no adhesion (

Fabrication of micro devices from thermoplastic polymers by ultrasonic processing has become a promising new technology in recent years. Microstructures are generated on polymer surfaces with cycle times of a few seconds and are tightly sealed in even shorter times. Investment costs and energy consumption are comparatively low and processes are very flexible enabling economic fabrication even for small-scale production. For large-scale production role-to-role fabrication has been shown reducing costs even more. A variety of micro devices have been introduced up to now mostly for microfluidic applications. Besides this, electronic circuit boards are fabricated by ultrasonic processing.

To progress in basic science and drug development, convenient methodology for detecting specific biological molecules and their interaction in living organism is in high demand. After more than 20 years of increasing research efforts, micro and nanotechnologies are now mature to propose a new class of miniature devices and principles enabling compartmentalized bioassays. Among them, this review proposes various examples that include array of electro-active microwells for highly parallel single cell analysis, cost-effective nanofluidic for DNA separation, parallel enzymatic reaction in 100 pL droplet and high-throughput platform for membrane proteins assays. The micro devices are presented with relevant experiments to foresee their future contribution to translational research and drug discovery.

In recent years there has been a considerable interest in microsystems, named as MEMS (Micro Electromechanical Systems), which are present in daily life by means of different products coming from several sectors as automotion, medical or consumer. Its continuing expansion is expected, derived from the trend towards miniaturization of components and the increasing applications for these micro devices. To overcome this, the technology to produce these products known as microsystem technology (MST), has been improving in order to allow the manufacturing of this type of parts becoming of growing importance over the past years. Micro gears are commonly used in electronics industry where the miniaturization process follows a constant evolution with multiple use advantages despite their small size. In this work the study and analysis of the existing verification techniques for micro gears together with the definition of a double flank rolling test focused on these gears is presented.

A pneumatic drop-on-demand (DOD) system has been applied to solder complex and dense interconnects of modern micro electronic devices. Initial parameters of uniform droplets were first measured. Then influences of experiment parameters, such as the crucible temperature, the substrate temperature and the droplet velocity on spread of solder droplets, were investigated experimentally and theoretically. The results showed that effects of impact velocity on the spreading could be negligible and the solder spreading process was driven by capillary forces because of the low Weber (We) number of depositing droplet. The influence of initial droplet temperature on the droplet spreading was not regular. The contact diameter of solder droplets on copper substrate increased when the substrate temperature increased from 443 K to 493 K. At last, copper cables were successfully soldered to pins of a flexible circuit using the direct solder deposition and re-melting process. The soldering results showed the feasibility of the data-driven soldering technique using the pneumatic DOD deposition technology.

New methods to assemble, integrate, and package micro devices are always needed in attempts to simplify and expedite fabrication methods to maximize throughput. Our paper focuses on assessing SU-8 as a viable material for packaging and flip chip bonding processes for MEMS and micro devices. In this paper, we vary the level of cross- linking through post exposure bake (PEB) times and assess rectangular ring test structures bonding strength following flip chip bonding through applied tensile loads. In addition, we performed initial assessments on the etching resiliency of varied cross-linking of SU-8. From initial results, the bonding strength is maximized following a 3-min PEB. Cross-linking appears to have minimal effects on SU-8's etch resiliency as all tested samples etched approximately 1.25 μm. From our initial results, SU-8 appears to be a viable and inexpensive material for wafer bonding, assembling and packaging MEMS devices.

Thermal conductivity (TC) of thin films will be influenced by boundary if the thickness is close to the mean free path (MFP). In this paper, we calculate the TC of crystalline and amorphous SiO 2 thin films, which are commonly used materials in micro devices and Integrated Circuits, by nonequilibrium molecular dynamics (NEMD) simulations. The calculation temperatures are from 100 to 700 K and the thicknesses are from 2 to 8 nm. For crystalline thin films, thickness is less than MFP, for amorphous thin films, the thickness is larger than MFP. The TC of crystalline thin films reach their peak values at different temperatures for different thicknesses, the smaller thickness, the larger peak value obtained. But for amorphous thin films, the results show that the temperature dependence of thin films is similar to bulk materials. The obtained temperature dependence of the thin films is consistent with some previous measurements and the theory predictions.

The use of mechanical micromachining to produce micro-devices is a flexible approach that can use any material that can be machined. The energy consumption for micromachining was compared between a conventional CNC and a micro-milling facility and showed that the energy usage for conventional CNC is highly inefficient. An energy footprint that is two to three magnitudes smaller is possible with a custom built micro-milling facility. The rapid increase in the manufacture of micro-devices, which will more than double in the next five years, will require careful planning if a sustainable future is to be envisaged for the use of mechanical micromachining for mass manufacture.

Since building its first GaAs wafer fabrication facility in 1997, RF Micro Devices has grown into the world's largest consumer of GaAs substrates. The vast majority of these wafers pass through its internal MBE facility for the deposition of HBT and PHEMT epilayers before being kitted into lots for the 4- and 6-in GaAs wafer fabs. Rapid growth, a continuing push to reduce costs, and commitment to shipping the highest quality epiwafers have been primary forces driving activity within our MBE operation. In this paper, we present an introduction to RFMD and its GaAs HBT and PHEMT manufacturing capabilities and scale. This will be followed by a discussion of strategies applied to increasing operational efficiencies, reducing costs and reducing process variation. This includes maximizing system uptime and developing a process that is well-documented, automated as much as possible, and robust such that output is consistent regardless of having half a dozen different types of MBE systems, a dozen engineers and several dozen MBE technicians operating the equipment.

This paper provides a comprehensive review of research efforts in the emerging field of micro devices assembly (MDA) as well as identifies future directions for research. The general domain dealing with both manual and automated assembly of micro devices can be referred to as MDA. The study of computer-based methods to accomplish the assembly of micron-sized parts can be described as Automated MDA (AMDA). The primary focus of this paper is to provide an overview of concepts related to MDA as well as a review of various segments of MDA research including study of the role of interactive forces at the micro level, the design of innovative gripping and assembly techniques as well as the use of information technology (IT) based approaches.

The smartphone business has long been regarded as the overall growth market. The young market has concord in record speed the entire world and is an integral part of today's society. There are also companies behind the scenes who have more to offer. A good example is Qualcomm. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) is the second-largest chipmaker after Intel. In the field of online retail Amazon you can now hardly thought away. The company is the undisputed top dog. That could change in the future. In the house apparently Google is planning even strengthened to go into the online shopping business. Only few stocks attract investors into its spell - just because of the name. At Apple, it is so for years - but the US cult company has provided extremely good record data. On Facebook there is similar. The two technology giants have discovered the self-propelled car as a growth area independently. Already in 2020 an annual turnover of over 100 billion Euros is to be achieved in this area. Google and Apple want to save each a large piece of the pie.

In the last decade, much effort has been devoted to developing micro devices for reaction, mixing and separation. Many researchers have reported the advantages of using such micro devices for production. However, few micro chemical plants are used for real production. In this research, the design and operation problems of micro chemical plants are discussed from the viewpoint of process systems engineering. First, the design problems of micro chemical plants are classified into two sub-problems: the design of the micro unit operations and the design of the entire micro plant. For each of the sub-problems the features of the micro systems are explained and the dominant problems which must be solved by process systems engineers are pointed out. Then, the characteristics of the instrumentation and control problems of the micro chemical plants are summarized. Finally, it is pointed out that the research on the design and control problem of micro chemical plants has the possibility to act as a bridge between chemical engineering science and process systems engineering.

For Mikro Electro Mechanical System (MEMS) based on chemical vapour deposition (CVD) diamond many key steps in growth and processing have been developed and work reliably. Devices can be tailored depending on their specific application. Static and dynamic performance data become available as specifically discussed for the electromechanical microrelay. However, although steady progress is observed the variety of devices is still limited and a number of key elements still needs to be developed for systems including fully free moving parts.

Optical sensors are very suitable for the analysis of microscopic structures and micro devices. We compare two very promising methods: the white-light interferometry and the fringe projection technique for the application to this task. The fringe projection is very useful for fast measurement of objects with vertical dimensions of some μm. White-light interferometry is especially useful for highly resolved 3-D measurements. Furthermore, we present a new technique, the scanning fringe projection (SFP), which enables absolute 3-D measurements with one single grating period.

Polycrystalline silicon (polysilicon) is a material commonly used for micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) for which reliable mechanical properties data is not available, especially for devices that have dimensions on the order of microns. This paper proposes a method for using test data that accounts for the uncertainties in mechanical properties and presents data from tests of polysilicon that may be used in the future design of polysilicon MEMS. The testing of 161 micro-devices to failure, results in a recommendation for design that the nominal strain be maintained below 0.0055. 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

The design and implementation of an Am29300 microprogrammable computer board, used as a coprecessor to a general-purpose MC68020 microcomputer board, is described. The main purpose is to allow those image processing program modules which are most time-consuming and highly repetitive to be executed by optimised special-purpose microcoded programs on a microprogrammable computer board. High performance microprogrammable processors, from the Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Am29300 family series, are used in the design. The AMD board gives the user the freedom to microprogram the hardware according to needs, and this feature enables the program to be tailor-made for specific applications. This produces improved performance compared with fixed instruction set computers. The AMD board is used for the multiplication of two (4 × 4) matrices; back-faces removal; and clipping, all of which are involved in three-dimensional (3-D) image generation. Results of a comparative performance analysis with a number of 32-bit processors are presented. The Am29300 microprogrammable system has been tested by displaying various 3-D objects on the screen. Both hardware design and software implementation is discussed followed by application examples.

A duet of papers given at Compound Semiconductor Mantech in New Orleans starts with RF Micro Devices' Paul Augustine's overview of trends and opportunities for GaAs semiconductors in handsets. Following on, Freescale's Chuck Weitzel agrees GaAs will continue its handset PA dominance and capture sockets in wireless base stations at higher frequency applications. But Strategic Analytics' Asif Anwar urges suppliers to prepare for lower demand. Only with multiple capabilities, addressing several end-markets will the future for GaAs prove successful.