What is Stiction?
The sticking of tiny moving MEMS parts to the substrate through surface tension or surface adhesion, so they no longer move. It often happens during drying after sacrificial-layer removal.
Field: MEMS and sensors
Stiction in the explanations
MEMS moving parts are tiny with large surface area relative to mass, so capillary forces during drying, electrostatic and van der Waals forces, and humidity can pin them to the substrate—stiction.
What is the phenomenon called in which tiny moving parts st…Drawbacks are switching times of microseconds to tens of microseconds, lifetime and reliability limited by contact wear and stiction, and drive voltages of tens of volts.
What is an advantage of RF MEMS switches, which switch RF s…Its selectivity to oxide, nitride, resist and many metals exceeds 1000, and because no liquid is involved stiction is avoided, so it is used to release MEMS structures from silicon sacrificial layers.
Which gas can etch silicon isotropically without a plasma, …
Questions that mention Stiction (4)
- When removing an SiO2 sacrificial layer to free a MEMS structure, which method is suitable for preventing stiction?
- What is the phenomenon called in which tiny moving parts stick to the substrate due to surface tension or similar forces during MEMS fabrication or use, and stop moving?
- What is an advantage of RF MEMS switches, which switch RF signals by mechanically opening and closing contacts?
- Which gas can etch silicon isotropically without a plasma, for example to remove sacrificial layers in MEMS?
Related terms
MEMS On-resistance Plasma Selectivity Accelerometer Anodic bonding Bosch process (deep RIE) Capacitive sensing Coriolis force Gyroscope