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Problem 2.6: Dynamics with Matlab and Simulink
Dynamic modeling of MEMS devices will require us to perform
time integrations of vector functions. In this problem we will
develop some of the nitty-gritty details needed to do these
integrations successfully. It will be necessary to become familiar
with functions defined by M-files, and with the integration
functions (e.g., ode45). There are also some syntactical issues that
must be handled correctly. In addition to the plots, please include
your m-file or Matlab diary showing your work.

(a) Consider a linear time-invariant dynamical system described

by the following transfer function H(s) relating an input X(s) to
an output Y1(s):

This transfer function models some of the kinds of 2nd-order

systems that we will encounter in this course (e.g.,
accelerometer). Determine the differential equation relating y 1(t)
to x(t). Write the system as a pair of coupled first-order
differential equations with state variables y 1(t) and y2(t) y1(t). Use
the Matlab command ode45 to integrate these equations forward
in time from an initial state y1(0) = y2(0) = 0 subject to a step
input x(t)=u(t). Plot y1(t) to show that this corresponds to an
nd-
(b) An alternate approach is to define Matlab LTI models using
the control systems toolbox. Define your transfer function in
Matlab using the tf command and plot its step response and Bode
plot using step and bode.

(c) Simulink can also be used to model dynamical systems.

Create a Simulink model of this dynamical system, using either a
transfer function or differential equation formulation, and plot
y1(t) in response to a unit step as above.

Problem 3.8 (2 pts): KOH etched diaphragm

We intend to use KOH etching to form a diaphragm on a (100)

silicon wafer. It will be a square membrane with a thickness
well-defined by an etch stop (e.g., electrochemical etch stop or
SOI wafer), such that there are no first order thickness variations
in the diaphragm itself. What feature size is required to produce a
square diaphragm with 400 μm side length and 20 μm thickness
on a silicon wafer that is 500 μm thick (the wafer thickness
includes the membrane thickness)? What is the edge-length
variation of the diaphragm if the etch mask is misaligned 1° to
the <110> direction? Assuming that the sensitivity of a pressure
sensor varies as the inverse fourth power of the diaphragm edge
length, what percentage of variation can be attributed to mask
misalignment?
Problem 4.15: Crayon engineering: Debug and recreate a
process and mask set for a pressure-sensing silicon
diaphragm

You are a young junior faculty member who has just hired your
first graduate student, Wayford Roppar. You have developed an
idea for using a sealed-cavity pressure-sensing silicon
diaphragm (1 mm across and 15 μm thick) that you’re sure will
make you famous and assure your tenure. You ask Wayford to
design a process flow for creating this simple structure, and
Wayford returns with the process flow detailed in Figure 1.

Being a seasoned MEMS designer, you immediately notice

several critical errors with Wayford’s process (things that won’t
work or won’t produce the result that Wayford shows in the
cross sections). Please find the critical errors in this process flow
and, where possible, suggest alternate approaches. Do not worry
about the accumulation of errors, but rather treat each step
assuming that the structure up to that step could be created.

Then recreate a correct process flow along with the device cross
sections at each step and the associated mask set (with
dimensions).
 Figure 1: Process flow for a pressure-sensing silicon diaphragm.

Process steps:
1. Start with a double-side-polished n-type silicon wafer.
2. Perform photolithography using 1-μm-thick positive
photoresist to define the diaphragm area.
3. Deep-reactive-ion etch the silicon to form the diaphragm; ash
resist.
4. Anodically bond the silicon wafer to a pyrex wafer.

Problem 4.13 (4 pts): Crayon engineering: Create process and

mask set for a DEP trap
Figure 2 shows an electrical trap that uses dielectrophoresis
(DEP) to trap cells. Using the principles of “crayon
engineering”, design a process and mask set that will produce
this structure (not to scale). Both metal layers must be 0.5-μm-
thick gold (though other metals are acceptable beneath the
gold). The substrate B and layer A both must be electrical
insulators. The gold linewidth is 10 μm, and all other critical
parameters are specified in the figure.

You are asked to create a table of process steps as shown in

Table 4.1 in the book, along with process flow cross-sectional
diagrams and masks as shown in Figure 4.1. Specify materials
and the proposed etch methods, and be sure to include as steps
in your process the required wafer cleans, application of
photoresist, and stripping of photoresist. You do not need to
include dimensions in your mask set in this problem (but do
draw the geometries correspondingly).
Problem 2.6 (4pts): Dynamics with Matlab and Simulink

(a) From the transfer function,

we have,

S2y1(s)+2sy1(s)+4y1(s)= X(s)

Taking the inverse Laplace transform, the time domain

expression becomes:

with initial values

Defining the two state variables to be y1(t) and y2(t) ,

we can write
The system is subjected to a step input x(t) = u(t), which can be
expressed as:

We can create an ode function called fnc as follows:

function dy = fnc(t,y)
dy = zeros (2,1)
% create a column vector of all zeros
% to define the [y1; y2] array dy(1) = y(2) ;
% then define the state derivatives
dy(1) = y(2) ;
dy(2) = -4*y(1) - 2*y(2) + 1;

Matlab command ode45 can be used to integrate these equations

for a time interval of 10 seconds:

[T,Y] = ode45(@fnc,[0 10],[0 0]);

Figure 1 shows the system response of y1 (t), which corresponds to
an underdamped 2nd-order system (overshoot, oscillation, etc..).
Alternatively, we can integrate using ode23. The difference between
ode23 and ode45 is the algorithm: ode23 uses a lower order
algorithm and is more efficient for a coarse estimate. In this simple
case, there is not much difference using either algorithm. But
whenever you use numerical methods, it is wise to choose the
integration parameters (tolerance, for example) to ensure an
accurate representation of the system and a practically acceptable
computation time.

The full MATLAB script for the problem is posted at the end of the
solution. Note that the program fnc.m (which defines the function
fnc) and the program p2_6a.m must be in the same directory when
p2_6a.m is called.

(b) Using tf object

H=tf(1,[1 2 4])

we create the transfer function corresponding to

by including the coefficients

of the powers of s, as arrays in descending order (of the powers), for

the numerator and
denominator respectively.
Then we use the MATLAB commands

step(H)
bode(H)

to plot the step response of the above transfer function and its
Bode plot. The step response is the same as Figure 1; the bode plot
is shown in Figure 2.

(c) Using SIMULINK

The system can also be represented using a Simulink block

diagram as shown in Figure 3 (here using the transfer function
formulation). The resulting plot is again similar to that in Figure 1.
Problem 3.8 : KOH etched diaphragm

Figure 4 shows the desired diaphragm features on a (100) silicon

wafer. The mask feature size a can be expressed as a function of
wafer thickness tw, diaphragm thickness td, diaphragm dimension d
and the intersection angle θ between {111} and {100} planes:

Substituting the numbers, we get a = 7.1079 μm .

If the pattern is misaligned by θ = °1 , the actual size of the KOH

pit will be a(cos sin ) θ + θ and hence the edge length variation
will be

This in turn translates to the edge-length variation for the

diaphragm Δd .
 Figure 4. Cross section of a (100) silicon wafer placed in an
anisotropic etchant.

If the sensitivity S of a pressure sensor varies as the inverse fourth

power of the diaphragm edge length d, i.e.

then the percentage variation attributed to variations in wafer

thickness is:
 = 18.7%

Problem 4.15 : Crayon engineering: Debug and recreate a

process and mask set for a pressure-sensing silicon diaphragm

Proposed process step Error

1. Start with a double- Must precede with a clean

side-polished n-type (RCA or piranha)
silicon wafer. 1 μm of PR is very thin
2. Perform when used as a mask in
photolithography DRIE. In other words, since
using 1-μm-thick the selectivity of DRIE to
positive photoresist to silicon over PR is ~ 50:1,
define the diaphragm etching though ~ 500μm of
area Si would require more than
3. Deep-reactive-ion etch 10μm of PR. Also, DRIE
the silicon to form the would lead to a non-uniform
diaphragm; ash resist. membrane thickness with
variations on the order of the
required thickness (15 μm).
This will make the device
function improperly if
fabricated at all.

4. Anodically bond the silicon wafer Must precede with wafer

to a pyrex wafer cleaning
 Corrected process:

1. Start with double-side polished SOI wafer, device layer

15 μm thick, oxide layer 1μm thick, substrate 500 μm
thick. RCA clean.
2. Deposit LPCVD nitride, 0.5 µm thick (will coat both
sides).
3. Spin 1-μm-thick positive photoresist on bottom side and
perform photolithography using Mask 1 to the bottom
side.
4. Dry etch the nitride on the bottom side using CF4 / H2
plasma for example. Ash resist .
5. KOH etch the silicon from the bottom side using the
embedded oxide layer as an etch stop. If the dimensions
of Mask 1 were calculated correctly, the resultant profile
on the top side must be 1 mm across.
6. Piranha clean to remove all resist residue.
7. Etch the remaining nitride in 85% phosphoric acid.
8. Etch the exposed oxide using BOE for ~10 minutes. RCA
clean.
9. Anodically bond the patterned SOI wafer to a Pyrex wafer.

The device cross sections at different steps and the mask needed
are shown in Figure 5 below. The side of the square on the mask is
calculated from equation 1 in Problem 3.8 above.
Figure 5: Corrected process flow and mask for a pressure-sensing silicon
diaphragm
Problem 4.13 : Crayon engineering: Create process and mask
set for a DEP trap

Step Description

Starting Material: Pyrex 4” or 6”; will be used as

wafer insulating layer B

1 Clean Piranha
2 Photolithography Using image reversal resist
and Mask 1. Thickness of
resist at least 1.5 µm (3 times
that of the layer to be lifted
off). Image reversal
(negative) resist necessary
for lift off process later on

3 Deposit Au-Ti E-beam evaporation (good

bilayer for lift-off to be performed in
next step). thickness of gold
~ 0.5 µm, thickness of
titanium ~ 100 Å. Ti used as
adhesion layer.
4 Lift-off Au-Ti Acetone. Follow by water rinse.
bilayer
5 Clean Using Nanostrip. It might be
possible to use Piranha
however it will eat up some of
the Ti layer and might lead to
delamination of gold layer.
6 Deposit silicon PECVD, about 10 µm
oxide thickness. Will be used as
insulating layer A.
7 Photolithography Using image reversal resist and
Mask 2. Thickness of resist at
least 1.5 µm.
8 Deposit Au-Ti E-beam evaporation. Thickness
bilayer of gold ~ 0.5 µm, thickness of
titanium ~ 100 Å. Ti used as
adhesion layer.
9 Lift-off Au-Ti Acetone. Follow by water rinse.
bilayer
10 Photolithography Spin cast positive thick
photoresist, prebake; expose
MASK 3, develop, postbake
11 Etch oxide Dry etch using CF4/H2 plasma.
Anisotropic and selective over
Si.
12 Strip resist By ashing for example.

13 Clean Using Nanostrip

Figure 6: Process flow and mask set for a DEP trap
 MATLAB CODE FOR PROBLEM 2.6

%----------------------fnc.m------------------

%Create a function fnc to define the relations between the state

%derivatives and the state variables. fnc is then called using ode45.

function dy = fnc(t,y)
dy = zeros (2,1) % create a column vector of all
zeros
% to define the [y1;y2] array
dy(1) = y(2) ; % then define the state
derivatives
dy(2) = -4*y(1) - 2*y(2) + 1;

%----------------------END OF PROGRAM---------------
%-----------------------p2_6a.m-------------------
%MATLAB code for Problem 2.6a
%Use the code below to call the defined function fnc and plot the
response
%over 10 sec

[T,Y] = ode45(@fnc,[0 10],[0 0]);

plot(T,Y(:,1))
Title ('Figure 1. Problem 2.6 Step Response Plot');
Xlabel ( 'Time t‘ );
Ylabel ( 'Response y_1(t) ‘ );

%-----------------END OF PROGRAM------------------
%-------------------p2_6b.m----------------
%MATLAB code for Problem 2.6b

H=tf(1,[1 2 4]); % Use tf to create the

transfer function
step(H) % Use step to plot the step
response
title( 'Figure 1. Problem 2.6 Step Response Plot');
figure % Open a new figure
bode(H)
% Use bode to generate
the bode plot
title(‘'Figure 2. Problem 2.6b Bode Plot’ ) ;

%----------------------------END OF
PROGRAM---------------------------