MEMS at Zyvex

Zyvex’s goal of adaptable, affordable, and moleculary precise manufacturing is being developed in part by a marriage of MEMS and high precision robotics. We are developing automated manufacturing through the design and construction of assemblers capable of handling thousands of sub-micron components at high speed, using MEMS to prototype systems that can be built at relatively low cost. This work is being funded by our NIST-ATP project listed below.

NIST-ATP Project for Assembly of Microsystems

The NIST-ATP project will develop prototype microscale assemblers using MicroElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS), extend the capabilities to nanometer geometries, and develop NanoElectroMechanical Systems (NEMS) for prototype nanoscale assemblers. The program is structured to develop systems providing highly parallel microassembly and nanoassembly for real-world, high-volume applications. Zyvex proposed the NIST-ATP project in order to accelerate the technical, economic, and societal benefits of nanotechnology and to assist the United States in achieving a leadership position in the emerging nanotechnology arena.

Other project participants are Zyvex’s joint venture partner Honeywell International, Inc. and university collaborators from the University of Texas at Dallas, the University of Texas at Arlington, and the University of Virginia.

RF MEMS Project

Zyvex’s MEMS technology has applications beyond the assembly of micro and nano systems. Business discussions with some of the leading RF component and radio manufacturers led us to design a series of variable capacitors that avoid the problems that have kept RF MEMS variable capacitors from being exploited in RF circuits. We have applied for patents and are currently developing these RF MEMS devices for commercial use.

MEMS CAD Project

Zyvex’s MEMS development was severely hampered by inadequate MEMS computer aided design (CAD) tools. To improve our productivity we developed software for MEMS fabrication process emulation that produces realistic representations of complex, multi-layer process flows including conformal depositions, straight etches, wet etches, wafer bonding, and chemical mechanical planarization. The data structure and processing used in this software is significantly superior to any other known methods of dealing with volumetric data and has been extended to include robust meshing for finite element analysis. Patent applications have been filed.

Automation Project

Zyvex’s Automation Project seeks to develop automated manipulation and assembly of micro, nano, and molecular scale components, for applications ranging from research to high volume manufacturing. The project was initiated to develop the following capabilities:

• Automated precision assembly of millimeter and micro scale components into unique systems (hybrid assembly)
• Automated manipulation of nano scale and molecular scale components for R&D of novel structures
• Microscale grippers, actuators, connectors, and automated systems
• Contract application development for precision automated assembly and manipulation techniques

The current capital equipment reality is that very high precision in assembly equipment demands a very high cost premium, and ever more elaborate schemes are required to assure system accuracy. Further, the macro schemes currently employed cannot deliver massively parallel processing. No firm has yet developed a cost effective solution to this macro scale model, but micro scale tooling has the potential to deliver a cost effective solution.

Nanomanipulation Project

In order to better study the remarkable properties of nanostructures such as carbon nanotubes, and to advance the ability to assemble at the nanoscale, Zyvex has been developing nanomanipulation capabilities that are used inside high resolution electron microscopes. These nanomanipulators have been used by Zyvex scientists for a number of purposes including published studies of carbon nanotubes, nanowires, and other nanostructures. Eventually a four-probe nanomanipulation system was built that had such compelling capabilities that Zyvex has now commercialized it with our Nanomanipulator Systems. The capabilities are also being extended into Transmission Electron Microscopes (TEM), funded by our Department of Energy SBIR.

Carbon Nanotube Materials Project

While other companies are concentrating on the production of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), Zyvex has chosen to pioneer CNT processing. We have developed a number of CNT processing technologies including a soft-cutting method of shortening CNTs that does only localized damage at the CNT ends rather than creating general defects as is the case with the acid-cutting technique. However, the major breakthrough developed by the CNT project is the ability to non-covalently functionalize CNTs with a class of chemicals that allow rational engineering of the functionalization properties. This technology has wide applicability to single-wall nanotubes (SWNTs), multi-wall nanotubes (MWNTs) of virtually any diameter, and even carbon nanofibers (CNFs). This is a platform technology that will preserve the nanotube’s intrinsic properties, and can support many CNT applications. Zyvex is currently pursuing commercialization of soluble CNTs and CNT/polymer composites that are redefining the state-of-the-art in electrical and thermal conductivities and have demonstrated superior mechanical properties.

Molecular Assembly Project

Zyvex was founded to become the world’s leading supplier of tools, products, and services that enable adaptable, affordable, and molecularly precise manufacturing. Zyvex has been developing technology that will eventually lead to a Molecular Assembler technology. The Zyvex definition of a Molecular Assembler is “a user-controlled fabrication tool capable of creating molecularly precise structures with 3-dimensional capability in an economically viable manner.” When it is brought to full fruition, this technology will revolutionize virtually all manufacturing technologies with the ability to produce machines and materials with molecular precision. However, we understand that a high throughput molecular assembler manufacturing technology is, in fact, a very long-term project. We have identified a path that will produce value as we work toward our long-term goal. In fact, all of the products and projects currently being pursued at Zyvex have been developed as a result of our efforts towards a Molecular Assembler. We have also identified a number of high-value, low-volume products that will be produced with prototype molecular assemblers that have very limited output capabilities. While we have spent considerable effort investigating molecular pick and place as an approach to a Molecular Assembler, we are exploring other approaches. The Molecular Assembler Project currently consists of three coordinated efforts: Micro Automation, Molecularly Precise Tools, and Patterned Atomic Layer Epitaxy.

The Micro Automation effort is a result of the realization that affordable molecularly precise manufacturing for many products will only be possible with massive parallelism. Parallel micro-assembly (being supported in part by our NIST-ATP) will develop both the system architecture needed to handle parallel assembly, and the assemblers at the micro scale required to deal with the output of large throughput molecular assemblers. The parallel micro assembly technology we develop will provide huge value to Zyvex by lowering assembly costs of the microsystems being produced today by the microelectronics, telecommunications, and biomedical industries.

We undertook the Molecularly Precise Tool Project in order to deal with the significant limitations that current scanning probe tips and other molecular manipulation tools have placed on science and technology. We are convinced that nano and molecular manipulation technology will not get out of the research labs until molecularly precise tips and other tools are developed. We believe that molecular pick and place will not be viable until dependable molecularly precise tools are available.

The Patterned Atomic Layer Epitaxy Project will combine two known experimental techniques to produce atomically precise nanostructures. In our view, this is the best approach to a molecular assembler that can make reasonable progress before molecularly precise tools are available. We have identified a target process and material system that will be capable of producing complex, atomically precise (in all three dimensions) nanostructures in a robust material. The prototype reactors will not be massively parallel and will be capable of only limited output. We have identified several approaches to massive parallelism that will be evaluated as we develop the prototype tools. The prototype system, even with its limited capabilities, will be able to produce valuable products that require only very small atomically precise structures.

When the Molecularly Precise Tool Project produces a superior tip for patterning, this will greatly improve patterned atomic layer epitaxy and enable its scale-up to large parallelism. However, such tools will also enable significant progress in molecular pick and place technology. Zyvex will constantly be evaluating the best path to a massively parallel molecular assembler.

Micro/Nano Assembly

Through a NIST-ATP award, we are working towards producing silicon microcomponents and achieving high-precision, 5DOF, automated microassembly; achieving 3DOF heterogeneous assembly of nickel and silicon microcomponents; and developing design tools (MEMulator™) for visualization and FEA meshing of assembled microsystems.

Zyvex licenses our MEMulator™ process emulation and visualization software to Coventor, Inc. who integrates parts of this tool into their comprehensive tool set: CoventorWare™. The MEMulator is a voxel-based software engine that provides visualization of complex MEMS processed components, assembly of those components, and FEA meshing of voxel data. These developed assembly processes form the basis for upcoming candidate assembled microsystems; development of parallel microassembly processes; and assembled scaled-MEMS devices. The candidate assembled microsystems are chosen to demonstrate broad-based economic impact in the areas of micro-optical bench technologies for the telecommunications industry, tunable RF MEMS components for wireless communications, and nanopositioning stages for the burgeoning field of nanotechnology.

For more information on Micro/Nano Assembly capabilities, click here.

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