Tactile Sensing Using Magnetic Foam.

For biomedical applications, smart materials that are used as sensors or actuators have to match some criteria, especially bio-compatibility and softness. Smart polymers are candidates that fulfill these two criteria. A sensitivity to compression is created by adding magnetic particles to a compressible foam polymer.

Micromechanical Force Sensor Using the Stress-Impedance Effect of Soft Magnetic FeCuNbSiB.

By using the stress-impedance (SI) effect of a soft magnetic amorphous FeCuNbSiB alloy, a micromachined force sensor was fabricated and characterized. The alloy was used as a sputtered thin film of 500 nm thickness. To clarify the SI effect in the used material as a thin film, its magnetic and mechanical properties were first investigated.

Simple Device to Measure Pressure Using the Stress Impedance Effect of Amorphous Soft Magnetic Thin Film.

A simple micro-machined pressure sensor, based on the stress-impedance (SI) effect, was fabricated herein using typical micro-fabrication technologies. To sense pressure, a 1-µm thin, soft magnetic metallic film of FeSiB was sputtered and used as a diaphragm. Its electrical response (impedance change) was measured under pressure in a frequency band from 5 to 500 MHz.

Bonding-Based Wafer-Level Vacuum Packaging Using Atomic Hydrogen Pre-Treated Cu Bonding Frames.

A novel surface activation technology for Cu-Cu bonding-based wafer-level vacuum packaging using hot-wire-generated atomic hydrogen treatment was developed. Vacuum sealing temperature at 300 °C was achieved by atomic hydrogen pre-treatment for Cu native oxide reduction, while 350 °C was needed by the conventional wet chemical oxide reduction procedure. A remote-type hot-wire tool was employed to minimize substrate overheating by thermal emission from the hot-wire.

Investigation of Surface Pre-Treatment Methods for Wafer-Level Cu-Cu Thermo-Compression Bonding.

To increase the yield of the wafer-level Cu-Cu thermo-compression bonding method, certain surface pre-treatment methods for Cu are studied which can be exposed to the atmosphere before bonding. To inhibit re-oxidation under atmospheric conditions, the reduced pure Cu surface is treated by H₂/Ar plasma, NH₃ plasma and thiol solution, respectively, and is covered by Cu hydride, Cu nitride and a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) accordingly. A pair of the treated wafers is then bonded by the thermo-compression bonding method, and evaluated by the tensile test.