Understanding Radiation Damage Mechanisms in MEMS/NEMS through Combined Optomechanical Interrogation and Micro-Analysis

Abstract

The proposed effort supports DTRA s Science for Protection thrust by pioneering a novel multi-disciplinary approach to elucidate radiation damage mechanisms in micro-electromechanical systems and nano-electromechanical systems (MEMS/NEMS). Specifically, instead of using electronic circuits to read out signals from MEMS/NEMS, we propose to use light to probe the structural damage mechanisms in MEMS/NEMS materials and devices. The benefit of using such an optical measurement method is that radiation-induced circuit failure will not interfere with our measurement, and therefore we expect to obtain more precise results about the mechanical and optical property evolution in MEMS/NEMS materials triggered by irradiation. The project will be performed in collaboration between two groups at MIT and University of Minnesota to systematically characterize both material and device performance in optical MEMS/NEMS systems upon gamma, neutron and ionic irradiation.

Document Details

Document Type
DoD Grant Award
Publication Date
May 26, 2016
Source ID
HDTRA11510060

Entities

People

  • Juejun Hu

Organizations

  • Defense Threat Reduction Agency
  • Harvard University

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Nanoscale Plasmonic Nanotechnology
  • Nuclear and Radiation Engineering.
  • Research Science/Academic Research

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics
  • Microelectronics - Microelectromechanical Systems