Application Note: Semiautomatic, Wafer-Level Measurements Of MEMS Dynamics

Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) find numerous applications in the automotive, medical, biochemical and aeronautic industries. Wafer-level MEMS testing prior to packaging is an increasingly important measurement for achieving high yield and reliability at low production cost. Measuring the response of a MEMS device both to changing environmental conditions like pressure, light, temperature and fluids and to intrinsic parameters like resonance frequencies and displacements is crucial to the dynamic design of new sensors. In this application note we will describe a setup for characterizing the dynamic response of membranes using a semiautomatic probe station equipped with a scanning laser-Doppler vibrometer.