Abstract:

Product engineering in micro and nano technology (MNT) is different from development methods in other areas. MNT products require often specific fabrication processes. Interdependencies between device design on the one hand and manufacturing process development on the other hand make MNT product engineering (PE) a challenging task. Customer involvement is an additional request since product developments are rarely standardized. Therefore customer interaction is required in virtually all stages of PE. In this paper a comprehensive customer-oriented MNT product engineering methodology is in the focus. Both MNT design and fabrication process development are analyzed with regard to procedures and interfaces used in order to develop an appropriate CAD support. The manufacturing process development is part of this holistic approach. An appropriate CAD environment has been developed by the authors and became recently commercially available.

Abstract:

The development of silicon-based MEMS/MST differs substantially from product engineering methods used in more traditional industries. The focus on manufacturing technology is a main characteristic of the MEMS/MST industry and leads to a large number of application specific fabrication processes, i.e. fabrication processes specifically developed for a product. This is often referred to as the MEMS law (“One device, one process!”). Process step configurations, process parameters and materials need to be adjusted to match the required electrical and mechanical material and device properties. The interdependencies between device design on the one hand and manufacturing process development on the other hand make MEMS/MST product engineering a rather complicated and tedious task. For more efficient development of MEMS products new design methodologies are required that incorporate the dependencies on manufacturability.

More>>