Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Sensor Concepts

Abstract

The potential of MEMS/NEMS technologies has been viewed as a revolution comparable or even bigger than that of microelectronics.\r These scientific and engineering advancements in micro-/nano-electromechanical systems (MEMS)/(NEMS) could bring previously\r unthinkable applications to reality, from space systems, environmental instruments, to daily-life appliances. As presented\r in previous chapters, the development of core MEMS/NEMS processes has already demonstrated a lot of commercial applications\r as well as future potentials with elaborate functionalities. However, creating a low-cost reliable package for the protection\r of these MEMS/NEMS products is still a very difficult task. Without addressing these packaging and reliability issues, no\r commercial products can be sold on the market. Packaging design and modeling, packaging material selection, packaging process\r integration, and packaging cost are the main issues to be considered. In this chapter, we will present the fundamentals of\r MEMS/NEMS packaging technology, including packaging processes, hermetic and vacuum encapsulations, thermal issues, packaging\r reliability, and future packaging trends. The future development of MEMS packaging will rely on the success of the implementation\r of several unique techniques, such as packaging design kits for system and circuit designer, low-cost wafer-level and chip-scale\r packaging techniques, effective testing techniques, and reliable fabrication of an interposer [56.1] with vertical through-interconnects for device integrations.