Seminar Report

On
“Biogas as an alternate fuel for IC Engines”

Submitted By: Guided By :

Arun Kumar Dr. G.A. Harmain
EN. No. 197/06
Roll-25, 7th Sem. Professor
Mechanical Engg. Deptt. Mechanical Engg. Deptt.
NIT Srinagar. NIT Srinagar.

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

HAZRATBAL, SRINAGAR- 190006 (J&K)

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 AKNOWLEDGEMENT

I wish to express my profound gratitude to Dr . G.A. Harmain for his

valuable guidance ,inspiration and help without which it would have

been difficult to achieve anything worthwhile.

Lastly, I would like to thank everybody

who helped me directly or indirectly in preparation of my Seminar

Report.

Arun Kumar
EN. No. 197/06
Roll-26, 7th Semester
Mechanical Engg. Deptt.
NIT Srinagar.

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 CERTIFICATE

It is certified that the seminar report entitled “Biogas as an alternate

fuel for IC Engines” is the work carried by Arun Kumar under my

guidance and supervision. He has fulfilled all the requirements as per

status of NIT for the submission of this report.

Dr. G.A. Harmain

Professor
Mechanical Engg. Deptt.
NIT Srinagar.

CONTENTS
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SERIAL NO. TOPICS PAGE NO.

1. ABSTRACT 5

2. INTRODUCTION 6

3. HISTORY

4. MANUFACTURING PROCESSES OF
BIOGAS

5. PRESENT THEORIES AND PRACTICES

6. NEEDS AND NECESSITIES

7. APPLICATIONS

8. COMPARISON WITH OTHER FUELS

9. ADVANTAGES

10. COMPATIBILITY WITH ENGINES

11. REPORTS

12. PERFORMANCE

13. CONCLUSIONS

14. BIBLIOGRAPHY

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 1. ABSTRACT

Biogas as the name itself indicates that this gas is made by using biogenic resources. Earlier
it was not known to us that how much it can be beneficial in future. As time has come
showing a path towards renewable source requirement being the shortage of fossil fuels.
Economy of India is very poor if we focus on the existence of fossil fuel in India. In the
coming years India is going to establish biogas plants on a great scale. As biogas can be
manufactured in India economically as raw material to it, is in abundance. In IC engines it
can be used very comfortably. This gas is free from harmful emissions after combustion. We
in India are using CNG and LPG gases for the IC engines today also so there is
No problem of dealing with the gaseous fuel. This gas mainly has Methane and Carbon
dioxide as its main constituents. In the 16th century this gas was used for heating of bathe
water in Persia. Engine working on biogas will emit almost no harmful gas which causes
green house effect in the environment. As biogenic waste in India are occupying a lot of
space and causing foul smell, so by using waste for biogas a lot of land is saved also
environment becomes clean near those sites. Biogas is produced extracting chemical energy
from the organic material. Also human excreta can be used as raw material.
Properties of this gas for IC engine are more suitable than gasoline and diesel. Some
modification in the engine has to be done if want to operate on SI engine or CI engine. There
is a need of advanced spark timing technique. There is also requirement of Carbon dioxide
elimination. So some more processes are involved for the purification of biogas for achieving
better fuel qualities. This gas is resistant to knocking in the engine. And higher compression
ratios can be achieved which leads to greater engine efficiency. This gas was earlier used for
cooking purposes and street-lighting. Dung used in its plant accounts for 21% of total rural
energy in India. Indian Government introduced large scale biogas production in 1981 through
“National project”. 2 million biogas plants were in operation in 1995. This gas is equivalent
to CNG but economical than CNG. In India CNG is in abundance than LPG so more CNG is
being used right now.

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 2. INTRODUCTION

The gas is drawn into the cylinders together with the combustion air. The connection to the
intake manifold may take different forms. Owing to the high ignition temperature of biogas, a
diesel engine must always be operated with a mixture of biogas and diesel oil. A spark-
ignition engine will also operate on 100% biogas. Biogas burns less rapidly than diesel fuel.
Consequently, engines designed for less than 2000 rpm are the better choice. Spark-ignition
engines run about twice as fast as diesel engines, thus leading to lower efficiency when
operating on biogas.

Any internal combustion engine, except a two-stroke, can be adapted to run on biogas. On
spark-ignition gasoline engines (hereafter referred to as gasoline engines), a biogas and air
mixer is needed in advance of the carburetor near the choke. The biogas is introduced via a
five mm diameter tube connected to the biogas supply through a control valve. The engine is
started on gasoline and then switched over to biogas after the engine is running. The engine
can be switched back to gasoline if there is a shortage of biogas. For smooth running of the
engine, the biogas flow should be steady; this can be done on stationary engines by
counterbalancing the gas cap. Sheaffer and Roland, a company that has developed biogas
systems for use in the United States recommends using gasoline engines. They only use
biogas for fuel, but they keep propane bottled gas as a backup in case there is a shortage of
biogas. The company also recommends that engines that are run continuously have once in
week oil and filter changes.

Because the use of biogas to run engines and the use of the excess engine heat to heat
digesters are often the most important factors in making biogas systems profitable, what
follows are three different reports on using biogas as an engine fuel.

L. John Fry's account of his use of biogas to run engines on a farm during a six year period is
one of the more impressive ones to be found in biogas literature. The following section is
adapted from his book, Practical Building of Methane Power Plants for Rural Energy
Independence.

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Methane (biogas without carbon dioxide) makes an excellent fuel for internal combustion
engines because it:

1) has a very high octane rating,

2) leaves little or no carbon deposits in cylinders or on pistons,

3) greatly reduces the amount of sludge build-up in the oil, which means longer operating
times between oil changes,

4) does not dilute the oil on the cylinder walls during engine start-up as liquid fuels do, and
thus promotes longer engine life

5) has no tetra-ethyl lead in it to foul spark plugs and pollute the air,

6) mixes better with air than gasoline, resulting in a better explosion in the cylinder,

7) results in less valve burning,

8) burns clean, with fewer pollutants than many other fuels.

There is a direct relationship between pressure and temperature. When pressure goes up, so
does temperature; when pressure goes down, so does temperature. This is exactly what
happens inside the cylinders of gasoline and diesel engines.

In gasoline engines a fuel-air mixture is let into the cylinder, the piston pushes up and
compresses the mixture, the spark plug fires, there is an explosion, and the hot gases formed
by the burning fuel expand and push the piston down. At the very bottom of the piston's
travel, the cylinder space has its greatest volume. At the very top of the piston's travel, the
cylinder space is as small as it can be. The ratio of the largest volume to the smallest volume
is called the compression ratio. If the compression ratio is four to one, the fuel-air mixture
will be compressed by a factor of four. Or, to look at it another way, the exploding gases will
expand four times their original volume.

Now, as the process of compression and firing repeats and continues, the cylinder walls heat
up, and this increases the temperature of the incoming fuel-gas mixture. As this mixture is
compressed by the piston, it becomes hotter than it would in a cold engine and may reach its
7
ignition temperature before the piston has finished compressing it. Boom, the fuel-air
mixtures explodes too soon (pre detonates). This is commonly called knock. It steals power
from the engine because the piston must continue upward against the force of the explosion
pushing it down. Obviously, the more the fuel-air mixture is compressed, the greater will be
its tendency to pre detonate, since greater compression will mean higher pressures and
temperatures.

It would seem that what is wanted in an engine is a low compression ratio, right? Wrong. As
was pointed out above, the compression ratio is also the expansion ratio, and the more the
exploding hot gases are allowed to expand, the more they will fall in temperature. In essence,
this means that the greater the expansion of these hot gases in the cylinder space, the more
efficient the engine will because it will convert more of that heat into the motion of the
piston. The trade-off is between the knocking of pre detonation and thermal (heat) efficiency.

Spark engine fuels such as gasoline are rated by their octane number. The octane rating of a
fuel is a measure of how well it avoids pre detonation. Methane has an octane number of 120
or more. This means that it can easily be used in high compression engines, because it rarely
pre detonates.

Biogas, which is methane mixed with carbon dioxide, has a lower octane rating than methane
(but still over 100). Carbon dioxide also acts to decrease methane's ability to detonate when it
is ignited, so not as much power is available from the methane in un-scrubbed biogas as is
from pure methane, given equal volumes of methane. The fact is that anything except oxygen
mixed with methane will dilute it, because not as much methane can get into the cylinder,
and clearly this will further reduce the power available from each power stroke in the
cylinder. Removing the carbon dioxide will increase the power available.

The trace of hydrogen sulfide that is in biogas should only be removed if it is present in
amounts (by volume) greater than 0.1 percent. But then there would be no way to smell gas
leaks--because of all the gases in biogas, only hydrogen sulfide has any smell (rotten eggs).
Hydrogen sulfide troubles can be partly overcome by replacing the standard engine valves
with heat resistant valves and changing the thermostat in the cooling system so that the water
circulates at 65 degrees centigrade (150° F) rather than 50 degrees centigrade (120° F).
Sometimes even these precautions are not taken and the engine runs just fine.

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Tests show that by using the best fuel-air ratios and averaging outputs, 100 percent methane
outperforms a 50 percent methane/50 percent carbon dioxide mixture by approximately 86
percent in the same engine, all other conditions being equal. Looked at another way, diluted
methane (biogas) has to provide 1.86 times the energy input to provide the same energy
output that pure methane can. Using a gasoline engine designed for research which had a
variable compression ratio (4:1 to 16:1), it was found that output peaked at a compression
ration 15:1, a fuel-air ratio of 1:10 (10 percent methane to 90 percent air by volume), and
with the timing set so that the engine fired 30 percent before top dead center.

Ordinary four-cycle, spark-ignition gasoline engines can be easily converted to run on

biogas, but they tend not to have the high compression ratios which can be used with biogas.
Very small engines such as motorcycle engines often require a fuel mix of gasoline and oil.
These two-cycle spark-ignition engines are not very suitable for biogas, but they can be used.
Lubrication may be a problem, because these engines get some of their piston lubrication
from the oil in the fuel mixture, of which biogas has none. Operating a two-cycle engine as a
dual fuel (biogas and oil) engine might be an experiment worth trying, especially if the
capacity of the biogas digester is too small to provide enough gas for a larger engine.

Another common engine type is the diesel. Diesel engines do not have spark plugs. What
happens in a diesel engine is that air is compressed and when the piston reaches the right
place in the cylinder space, the diesel fuel is squirted (injected) into the cylinder and the heat
which has been developed by compressing the air ignites the fuel-air mixture, causing an
explosion without need of a spark.

Diesel fuels do not have octane ratings; they have cetane ratings. The kind of measurement is
different for diesel because the qualities needed for diesel fuel are very different than the
qualities needed for gasoline fuel. In gasoline engines the fuel should not burn until it is lit
with a spark. In diesel engines the injected fuel should burn as soon as it enters the cylinder.
That is why cetane numbers are all about how easily the fuel ignites on its own in the
cylinder.

3. HISTORY

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Hearing about how biogas controls pollution and improves sanitation, Mr. Parayno visited
the biogas system at Maya Farms and decided then and there to have one built for his
piggery. Mr. Parayno enjoys recounting what happened during the long dry summer of 1977
when the hydroelectric plant in Central Luzon could not generate enough power. He
extended the biogas pipe to the store and transferred some of the mantle lamps from the
piggery. When the electric power was shut off, as frequently happened, he had the only
brightly lit store in the area. This brought in many customers. Mr. Parayno is now thinking
about using the gas to run an engine and a 2.5 KVA electric generator (Maramba, 1978).

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 .
 The Adams Golf DiXX Digital Instruction Putter uses MEMS, specifically a Micro
Inertial Navigation System to analyze factors of the swing motion, including path,
tempo, speed and hand vibration levels.
Companies with strong MEMS programs come in many sizes. The larger firms specialize in
manufacturing high volume inexpensive components or packaged solutions for end markets
such as automobiles, biomedical, and electronics. The successful small firms provide value in
innovative solutions and absorb the expense of custom fabrication with high sales margins.
on

11
Silicon is the material used to create most integrated circuits used in consumer electronics in
the modern world. The economies of scale, ready availability of high-quality materials and
ability to incorporate electronic functionality make silicon attractive for a wide variety of
MEMS applications. Silicon also has significant advantages engendered through its material
properties. In single crystal form, silicon is an almost perfect Hookean material, meaning that
it has linear relationship between applied stress and strain. As well as making for highly
repeatable motion, this also makes silicon very reliable as it suffers very little fatigue and can
have service lifetimes in the range of billions to trillions of cycles without breaking. The
basic techniques for producing all silicon based MEMS devices are deposition of material
layers, patterning of these layers by photolithography and then etching to produce the
required shapes.
Polymers
Even though the electronics industry provides an economy of scale for the silicon industry,
crystalline silicon is still a complex and relatively expensive material to produce. Polymers
on the other hand can be produced in huge volumes, with a great variety of material
characteristics. MEMS devices can be made from polymers by processes such as injection
molding, embossing or stereolithography and are especially well suited to microfluidic
applications such as disposable blood testing cartridges.

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Metals
Metals can also be used to create MEMS elements. While metals do not have some of the
advantages displayed by silicon in terms of mechanical properties, when used within their
limitations, metals can exhibit very high degrees of reliability. Metals can be deposited by
electroplating, evaporation, and sputtering processes.Commonly used metals include gold,
nickel, aluminium, chromium, titanium, tungsten, platinum, and silver.

4 . General Design Methodology

MEMS design process begins with the identification of the general operating principles and
overall structural elements, then proceeds onto analysis and simulation, and finally onto
outlining of the individual steps in the fabrication process. This is often an iterative process
involving continuous adjustments to the shape, structure, and fabrication steps. The design
process is not an exact analytical science but rather involves developing engineering models,
many for the purpose of obtaining basic physical insights. Computer-based simulation tools
using finite-element modeling are convenient for analyzing complex systems. A number of
available programs, such as ANSYS
(ANSYS, Inc., of Canonsburg, Pennsylvania) and© CoventorWare™ (Coventor, Inc., of
Cary, North Carolina), can simulate mechanical, thermal, and electrostatic structures. Any
MEMS simulation software uses either of two approaches:
4.1 System level (or behavioral or reduced order or lumped parameter) modeling:
This approach captures the main characteristics of a MEMS device. It provides a quick and
easy method to predict the main behavior of a MEMS device. The requirement is that the
device can be described by sets of ordinary differential equations and nonlinear functions at a
block diagram level. This approach originated from control system engineering. The multi
domain problem is avoided since, typically, the simulation tools are physically dimensionless
only the user interprets the input and output of the various blocks in a physically meaningful
way.
4.2 Finite element modeling (FEM):
This approach originated from mechanical engineering where it was used to predict
mechanical responses to a load, such as forces and moments, applied to a part. The part to be
13
simulated is broken down into small, discrete elements a process called meshing. Each
element has a number of nodes and its corners at which it interacts with neighboring
elements. The analysis can be extended to non mechanical loads, for example, temperature.
Additionally, finite element simulation techniques have been successfully applied to simulate
electromagnetic fields, thermodynamic problems such as squeeze film damping, and fluidics.
FEM results in more realistic simulation results than behavioral modeling, but it is much
more computationally demanding and hence it is difficult to simulate entire systems.
5 .Fabrication Issues in MEMS
Silicon micromachining has been a key factor for the vast progress of MEMS. Silicon
micromachining comprises of two technologies: bulk micromachining, in which structures are
etched into silicon substrate, and surface micromachining, in which the micromechanical layers
are formed from layers and films deposited on the surface. Bulk micromachining and surface
micromachining are the two major micromachining processes of silicon; silicon wafer bonding
is usually necessary for silicon microfabrication. LIGA and three-dimensional (3D)
microfabrications have been used for high-aspect ratio and 3D microstructures fabrication for
MEMS

Silicon micromachining combines adding layers of material over a silicon wafer with etching
(selectively removing material) precise patterns in these layers or in the underlying substrate.
The implementation is based on a broad portfolio of fabrication processes, including material
deposition, patterning, and etching techniques. Lithography plays a significant role in the
delineation of accurate and precise patterns. These are the tools of MEMS (see Figure 2)

14
Figure 2 Illustration of the basic process flow in micromachining: Layers are deposited;
photoresist is lithographically patterned and then used as a mask to etch the underlying
materials. The process is repeated until completion of the microstructure.

5.1 Bulk micromachining of silicon: -

The bulk micromachining technique can be divided into wet etching and dry etching of
silicon according to the phase of etchants. Liquid etchants, almost exclusively relying on
aqueous chemicals are referred to as wet etching, while vapor and plasma etchants are
referred to as dry etching.
Bulk micromachining is a fabrication technique which builds mechanical elements by
starting with a silicon wafer, and then etching away unwanted parts, and being left with
useful mechanical devices. Typically, the wafer is

photo patterned, leaving a protective layer on the parts of the wafer that you want to keep.
The wafer is then submersed into a liquid etchant, like potassium hydroxide, which eats away
any exposed silicon. This is a relatively simple and inexpensive fabrication technology, and
is well suited for applications which do not require much complexity, and which are price
sensitive.
Today, almost all pressure sensors are built with Bulk Micromachining. Bulk
Micromachined pressure sensors offer several advantages over traditional pressure sensors.
15
They cost less, are highly reliable, manufacturable, and there is very good repeatability
between devices. All new cars on the market today have several micromachined pressure
sensors, typically used to measure manifold pressure in the engine. The small size and high
reliability of micromachined pressure sensors make them ideal for a variety of medical
applications as well.

Bulk micromachining is the oldest paradigm of silicon based MEMS. The whole thickness of
a silicon wafer is used for building the micro-mechanical structures.Silicon is machined
using various etching processes. Anodic bonding of glass plates or additional silicon wafers
is used for adding features in the third dimension and for hermetic encapsulation. Bulk
micromachining has been essential in enabling high performance pressure sensors and
accelerometers that have changed the shape of the sensor industry in the 80's and 90's.
 

16
Figure 3 Bulk silicon micromachining:
(a) Isotropic etching; (b) Anisotropic etching; (c) Anisotropic etching with buried etch-stop
layer; (d) Dielectric membrane released by back-side bulk etching; (e) Dopant dependent
wet etching. (f) Anisotropic dry etching.

With bulk-micromachined silicon microstructures, the wafer-bonding technique is necessary

for the assembled MEMS devices. Surface micromachining, however, can be used to build
the monolithic MEMS devices.
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5.2 Surface Micromachining :-

Surface micromachining does not shape the bulk silicon but instead builds structures on the
surface of the silicon by depositing thin films of ‘sacrificial layers’ and ‘structural layers’ and
by removing eventually the sacrificial layers to release the mechanical structures (Figure 4).
The prime advantage of surface-micro-machined structures is their easy integration with IC
components, since the wafer is also the working for IC elements. Surface micromachining
requires a compatible set of structural materials, sacrificial materials and chemical etchants.
Silicon microstructures fabricated by surface micromachining are usually planar structures
(or are two dimensional). Other techniques involving the use of thin-film structural materials
released by the removal of an underlying sacrificial layer have helped to extend conventional
surface micromachining into the third dimension. By connecting polysilicon plates to the
substrate and to each other with hinges, 3D micromechanical structures can be assembled
after release

Figure 4.
Processing steps of
typical surface
micromachining

6. MEMS BASIC
PROCESS.

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Figure no 5 –(Basic MEMS Processes.).

6.1 MEMS Thin Film Deposition Processes

One of the basic building blocks in MEMS processing is the ability to deposit thin films of
material. In this text we assume a thin film to have a thickness anywhere between a few
nanometers to about 100 micrometer. The film can subsequently be locally etched using
processes the Lithography and Etching.
MEMS deposition technology can be classified in two groups:
1. Depositions that happen because of a chemical reaction:
I. Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD)
II. Electrodeposition
III. Thermal oxidation
These processes exploit the creation of solid materials directly from chemical reactions in gas
and/or liquid compositions or with the substrate material. The solid material is usually not the
only product formed by the reaction. Byproducts can include gases, liquids and even other
solids.
2. Depositions that happen because of a physical reaction:
I. Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD)
II. Casting
Common for all these processes are that the material deposited is physically moved on to the
substrate. In other words, there is no chemical reaction which forms the material on the
substrate. This is not completely correct for casting processes, though it is more convenient
to think of them that way.
This is by no means an exhaustive list since technologies evolve continuously.
I. Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD)
In this process, the substrate is placed inside a reactor to which a number of gases are
supplied.
The fundamental principle of the process is that a chemical reaction takes place between the
source gases. The product of that reaction is a solid material with condenses on all surfaces
inside the reactor.

19
The two most important CVD technologies in MEMS are the Low Pressure CVD (LPCVD)
and Plasma Enhanced CVD (PECVD). The LPCVD process produces layers with excellent
uniformity of thickness and material characteristics. The main problems with the process are
the high deposition temperature (higher than 600°C) and the relatively slow deposition rate.
The PECVD process can operate at lower temperatures (down to 300° C) thanks to the extra
energy supplied to the gas molecules by the
plasma in the reactor.

Figure no 6 –(Diagram showing a LPCVD

Reactor.).
However, the quality of the films tends to be
inferior to processes running at higher
temperatures.

Secondly, most PECVD deposition systems can only deposit the material on one side of the
wafers on 1 to 4 wafers at a time. LPCVD systems deposit films on both sides of at least 25
wafers at a time. A schematic diagram of a typical LPCVD reactor is shown in figure 6.

When do I want to use CVD?

CVD processes are ideal to use when you want a thin film with good step coverage. A variety
of materials can be deposited with this technology, however, some of them are less popular
with fabs because of hazardous byproducts formed during processing. The quality of the
material varies from process to process, however a good rule of thumb is that higher process
temperature yields a material with higher quality and less defects.
II. Electrodeposition: -
This process is also known as "electroplating" and is typically restricted to electrically
conductive materials. There are basically two technologies for plating: Electroplating and
Electroless plating. In the electroplating process the substrate is placed in a liquid solution
(electrolyte). When an electrical potential is applied between a conducting area on the
substrate and a counter electrode (usually
platinum) in the liquid, a chemical redox
process takes place resulting in the

20
formation of a layer of material on the substrate and usually some gas generation at the
counter electrode.
In the electroless plating process a more complex chemical solution is used, in which
deposition happens spontaneously on any surface which forms a sufficiently high
electrochemical potential with the solution.
. Figure no 7–(Schematic Diagram of a typical Setup for Electroplating).

This process is desirable since it does not require any external electrical potential and contact
to the substrate during processing. Unfortunately, it is also more difficult to control with
regards to film thickness and uniformity. A schematic diagram of a typical setup for
electroplating is shown in the figure 7. Figure no 7–(Schematic Diagram of a typical
Setup for Electroplating).

When do I want to use Electrodeposition ?

The electrodeposition process is well suited to make films of metals such as copper, gold and
nickel? The films can be made in any thickness from ~1µm to >100µm. The deposition is
best controlled when used with an external electrical potential, however, it requires electrical
contact to the substrate when immersed in the liquid bath. In any process, the surface of the
substrate must have an electrically conducting coating before the deposition can be done.

III. Thermal oxidation

This is one of the most basic deposition technologies. It is simply oxidation of the substrate
surface in an oxygen rich atmosphere. The temperature is raised to 800° C-1100° C to speed
up the process. This is also the only deposition
technology which actually consumes some of the
substrate as it proceeds. The growth of the film is
spurned by diffusion of oxygen into the substrate,
which means the film growth is actually downwards
into the substrate. Figure no 8 –
( Schematic Diagram of a typical Wafer Oxidation
Furnace).

21
As the thickness of the oxidized layer increases, the diffusion of oxygen to the substrate
becomes more difficult leading to a parabolic relationship between film thickness and
oxidation time for films thicker than ~100nm.

This process is naturally limited to materials that can be oxidized, and it can only form films
that are oxides of that material. This is the classical process used to form silicon dioxide on a
silicon substrate. A schematic diagram of a typical wafer oxidation furnace is shown in the
figure 8.

When do I want to use thermal oxidation?

Whenever you can! This is a simple process, which unfortunately produces films with
somewhat limited use in MEMS components.

It is typically used to form films that are used for electrical insulation or that are used for
other process purposes later in a process sequence.

I. Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD):

PVD covers a number of deposition technologies in which material is released from a source
and transferred to the substrate. The two most important technologies are evaporation and
sputtering.

When do I want to use PVD?

PVD comprises the standard technologies for deposition of metals. It is far more common
than CVD for metals since it can be performed at lower process risk and cheaper in regards
to materials cost. The qualities of the films are inferior to CVD, which for metals means
higher resistivity and for insulators more defects and traps. The step coverage is also not as
good as CVD.
The choice of deposition method (i.e. evaporation vs. sputtering)
may in many cases be arbitrary, and may depend more on what
technology is available for the specific material at the time.
A. Evaporation

22
In evaporation the substrate is placed inside a vacuum chamber, in which a block (source) of
the material to be deposited is also located. The source material is then heated to the point
where it starts to boil and evaporate.

Figure no 9 –(Schematic Diagram for e-beam evaporation.).

The vacuum is required to allow the molecules to evaporate freely in the chamber, and they
subsequently condense on all surfaces. This principle is the same for all evaporation
technologies, only the method used to the heat (evaporate) the source material differs.

There are two popular evaporation technologies, which are e-beam evaporation and resistive
evaporation each referring to the heating method. In e-beam evaporation, an electron beam is
aimed at the source material causing local heating and evaporation. In resistive evaporation, a
tungsten boat, containing the source material, is heated electrically with a high current to
make the material evaporate. Many materials are restrictive in terms of what evaporation
method can be used (i.e. aluminum is quite difficult to evaporate using resistive heating),
which typically relates to the phase transition properties of that material. A schematic
diagram of a typical system for e-beam evaporation is shown in the figure9 .

B Sputtering
Sputtering is a technology in which the material is released from the source at
much lower temperature than evaporation. The substrate is placed in a vacuum chamber with
the source material, named a target, and an inert gas (such as argon) is introduced at low
pressure. Gas plasma is struck using an RF power source, causing the gas to become ionized.
The ions are accelerated towards the surface of the target, causing atoms of the source
material to break off from the target in vapor form and condense on all surfaces including the
substrate. As for evaporation, the basic principle of sputtering is the same for all sputtering
technologies. The differences typically relate to the manor in which the ion bombardment of
the target is realized. A schematic diagram of a
typical RF sputtering system is shown in the
figure10.

23
Figure no 10 –(Schematic Diagram of Sputtering System.).

II. Casting
In this process the material to be deposited is dissolved in liquid form in a solvent. The
material can be applied to the substrate by spraying or spinning. Once the solvent is
evaporated, a thin film of the material remains on the substrate. This is particularly useful for
polymer materials, which may be easily dissolved in organic solvents, and it is the common
method used to apply photoresist to substrates (in photolithography). The thicknesses that
can be cast
on a substrate range all the way from a single monolayer of molecules (adhesion promotion)
to tens of micrometers. In recent years, the casting technology has also been applied to form
films of glass materials on substrates. The spin casting process is illustrated in the figure
below.
When do I want to use casting?
Casting is a simple technology which can be used for a variety of materials (mostly
polymers). The control on film thickness depends on exact conditions, but can be sustained
within +/-10% in a wide range. If you are planning to use photolithography you will be using
casting, which is an integral part of that
technology. There are also other interesting
materials such as polyimide and spin-on glass
which can be applied by casting.

Figure no 11 –(Schematic Diagram of Spin

Casting System.).

a) Photolithography

Lithography in MEMS context is typically the transfer of a pattern to a photosensitive

material by selective exposure to a radiation source such as light. A photosensitive material is
a material that experiences a change in its physical properties when exposed to a radiation
source. If a photosensitive material is selectively exposed to radiation (e.g. by masking some

24
of the radiation) the pattern of the radiation on the material is transferred to the material
exposed, as
the properties of the exposed and unexposed regions differs. This exposed region can then be
removed or treated providing a mask for the underlying
substrate. Photolithography is typically used with metal or other thin film deposition, wet and
dry etching.
b) Lithography:
Pattern Transfer
Lithography in the MEMS context is typically the transfer of a pattern to a photosensitive
material by selective exposure to a radiation source such as light. A photosensitive material is
a material that experiences a change in its physical properties when exposed to a radiation
source. If we selectively expose a photosensitive material to radiation (e.g. by masking some
of the radiation) the pattern of the radiation on the material is transferred to the material
exposed, as the
properties of the
exposed and unexposed
regions differs (as
shown in figure)

Fig 12:Transfer of a
pattern to a
photosensitive
material

This discussion will focus on optical lithography, which is simply lithography using a
radiation source with wavelength(s) in the visible spectrum. In lithography for
micromachining, the photosensitive material used is typically a photoresist (also called resist,
other photosensitive polymers are also used). When resist is exposed to a radiation source of
a specific a wavelength, the chemical resistance of the resist to developer solution changes. If
the resist is placed in a developer solution after selective exposure to a light source, it will
25
etch away one of the two regions (exposed or unexposed). If the exposed material is etched
away by the developer and the unexposed region is resilient, the material is considered to be
a positive resist (shown in figure 13a). If the exposed material is resilient to the developer
and the unexposed region is etched away, it is considered to be a negative resist (shown in
figure 13b).

Lithography is the principal mechanism for pattern definition in micromachining.

Photosensitive compounds are primarily organic, and do not encompass the spectrum of
materials properties of interest to micro-machinists. However, as the technique is capable of
producing fine features in an economic fashion, a photosensitive layer is often used as a
temporary mask when etching an underlying layer, so that the pattern may be transferred to
the underlying layer . Photoresist may also be used as a template for patterning material
deposited after lithography . The resist is subsequently etched away, and the material
deposited on the resist is "lifted off". The deposition template (lift-off) approach for
transferring a pattern from resist to another layer is less common than using the resist pattern
as an etch mask. The reason for this is that resist is incompatible with most MEMS
deposition processes, usually because it cannot withstand high temperatures and may act as a
source of contamination

26
Figure 13: a) Pattern definition in positive resist , b)Pattern definition in negative resist.
Once the pattern has been transferred to another layer, the resist is usually stripped.
This is often necessary as the resist may be incompatible with further micromachining steps.
It also makes the topography more dramatic, which may hamper further lithography steps.
c) Etching Process
In order to form a functional MEMS structure on a substrate, it is necessary to etch the thin
films previously deposited and/or the substrate itself. In general, there are two classes of
etching processes:
1.Wet etching where the material is dissolved when immersed in a chemical solution
2. Dry etching where the material is sputtered or dissolved using reactive ions or a vapor
phase etchant
In the following, we will briefly discuss the most popular technologies for wet and dry
etching.
a) Wet etching
This is the simplest etching technology. All it requires is a container with a liquid solution
that will dissolve the material in question. Unfortunately, there are complications since
usually a mask is desired to selectively etch the material. One must find a mask that will not
27
dissolve or at least etches much slower than the material to be patterned. Secondly, some
single crystal materials, such as silicon, exhibit anisotropic etching in certain chemicals.
Anisotropic etching in contrast to isotropic etching means different etch rates in different
directions in the material. The classic example of this is the <111> crystal plane sidewalls
that appear when etching a hole in a <100> silicon wafer in a chemical such as potassium
hydroxide (KOH). The result is a pyramid shaped hole instead of a hole with rounded
sidewalls with a isotropic etchant. The principle of anisotropic and isotropic wet etching is
illustrated in the
figure below.

Figure no 14 –(Difference between Isotropic and

Anisotropic Etching).

When do I want to use wet etching?

This is a simple technology, which will give good results if you can find the combination of
etchant and mask material to suit your application. Wet etching works very well for etching
thin films on substrates, and can also be
used to etch the substrate itself. The problem with substrate etching is that isotropic processes
will cause undercutting of the mask layer by the same distance as the etch depth. Anisotropic
processes allow the etching to
stop on certain crystal planes in the substrate, but still results in a loss of space, since these
planes cannot be vertical to the surface when etching holes or cavities. If this is a limitation
for you, you should consider dry etching of the substrate instead. However, keep in mind that
the cost per wafer will be 1-2 orders of magnitude higher to perform the dry etching
If you are making very small features in thin films (comparable to the film thickness), you
may also encounter problems with isotropic wet etching, since the undercutting will be at
least equal to the film thickness. With dry etching it is possible etch almost straight down
without undercutting, which provides much higher resolution.
b) Dry Etching
28
The dry etching technology can split in three separate classes called reactive ion etching
(RIE), sputter etching, and vapor phase etching.
In RIE, the substrate is placed inside a reactor in which several gases are introduced. A
plasma is struck in the gas mixture using an RF power source, breaking the gas molecules
into ions. The ions are accelerated towards, and reacts at, the surface of the material being
etched, forming another gaseous material. This is known as the chemical part of reactive ion
etching.
There is also a physical part which is similar in nature to the sputtering deposition process. If
the ions have high enough energy, they can knock atoms out of the material to be etched
without a chemical reaction. It is a very complex task to develop dry etch processes that
balance chemical and physical etching, since there are many parameters to adjust. By
changing the balance it is possible to influence the anisotropy of the etching, since the
chemical part is isotropic and the physical part highly anisotropic the combination can form
sidewalls that have shapes from rounded to vertical. A schematic of a typical reactive ion
etching system is shown in the figure below.
A special subclass of RIE which continues to grow rapidly in popularity is deep RIE (DRIE).
In this process, etch depths of hundreds of microns can be achieved with almost vertical
sidewalls. The primary technology is based on the so-called "Bosch process", named after the
German company Robert Bosch which filed the original patent, where two different gas
compositions are alternated in the reactor. The first gas composition creates a polymer on the
surface of the substrate, and the second gas composition etches the substrate. The polymer is
immediately sputtered away by the physical part of the etching, but only on the horizontal
surfaces and not the sidewalls. Since the polymer only dissolves very slowly in the chemical
part of the etching, it builds up on the sidewalls and protects them from etching. As a result,
etching aspect ratios of 50 to 1 can be achieved. The process can easily be used to etch
completely through a silicon substrate, and etch rates are 3-4 times higher than wet etching.
Sputter etching is essentially RIE without reactive ions. The systems used are very similar in
principle to sputtering deposition systems. The big difference is that substrate is now
subjected to the ion bombardment instead of the material target used in sputter deposition.
Vapor phase etching is another dry etching method, which can be done with simpler
equipment than what RIE requires. In this process the wafer to be etched is placed inside a
chamber, in which one or more gases are introduced. The material to be etched is dissolved at
the surface in a chemical reaction with the gas molecules. The two most common vapor
29
phase etching technologies are silicon dioxide etching using hydrogen fluoride (HF) and
silicon etching using
xenon diflouride (XeF2), both of which are isotropic in nature. Usually, care must be taken in
the design of a vapor phase process to not have bi-products form in the chemical reaction that
condense on the surface and interfere with the etching process.
When do I want to use dry etching?
The first thing you should note about this technology is that it is expensive to run compared
to wet etching. If you are concerned with feature resolution in thin film structures or you
need vertical sidewalls for deep etchings in the substrate, you have to consider dry etching. If
you are concerned about the price of your process and device, you may want to minimize the
use of dry etching. The IC industry has long since adopted dry etching to achieve small
features, but in many cases feature size is not as critical in MEMS. Dry etching is an enabling
technology, which comes at a sometimes high cost.

Integrated MEMS Technologies

Since MEMS devices are created with the same tools used to create integrated circuits, in
some cases it is actually possible to fabricate Micromachines and Microelectronics on the
same piece of silicon. Fabricating machines and transistors side by side enables machines
that can have intelligence. A number of exciting products are already taking advantage of
this capability.

7 . Applications of MEMS

Here are some examples of MEMS technology:

7.1. Pressure Sensors

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MEMS pressure microsensors typically have a flexible diaphragm that deforms in the
presence of a pressure difference. The deformation is converted to an electrical signal
appearing at the sensor output. A pressure sensor can be used to sense the absolute air
pressure within the intake manifold of an automobile engine, so that the amount of fuel
required for each engine cylinder can be computed. In this example, piezoresistors are
patterned across the edges of a region where a silicon diaphragm will be micromachined. The
substrate is etched to create the diaphragm. The sensor die is then bonded to a glass substrate,
creating a sealed
Figure no 15
–(Picture
showing a
photo
resistive
Pressure
Sensor .).
vacuum
cavity under
the
diaphragm.
The die is
mounted on a package, where the topside of the diaphragm is exposed to the environment.
The change in ambient pressure forces the downward deformation of the diaphragm,
resulting in a change of resistance of the piezoresistors. On-chip electronics measure the
resistance change, which causes a corresponding voltage signal to appear at the output pin of
the sensor package .

7.2. Accelerometers

Accelerometers are acceleration sensors. An inertial mass suspended by springs is acted upon
by acceleration forces that cause the mass to be deflected from its initial position. This

31
deflection is converted to an electrical signal, which appears at the sensor output. The
application of MEMS technology to accelerometers is a relatively new development.

Figure no 16 –
(MEMS Application in Automobile, showing various MEMS
devices.).

One such accelerometer design is discussed by DeVoe and Pisano (2001) . It is a surface
micromachined piezoelectric accelerometer employing a zinc oxide (ZnO) active
piezoelectric film. The design is a simple cantilever structure, in which the cantilever beam
serves simultaneously as proof mass and sensing element. One of the fabrication approaches
developed is a sacrificial oxide process based on polysilicon surface micromachining, with
the addition of a piezoelectric layer atop the polysilicon film. In the sacrificial oxide process,
a passivation layer of silicon dioxide and low-stress silicon nitride is deposited on a bare
silicon wafer, followed by 0.5 micron of liquid phase chemical vapor deposited (LPCVD)
phosphorous-doped polysilicon. Then, a 2.0-micron layer of phosphosilicate glass (PSG) is
deposited by LPCVD and patterned to define regions where the accelerometer structure will
32
be anchored to the substrate. The PSG film acts as a sacrificial layer that is selectively etched
at the end to free the mechanical structures. A second layer of 2.0-micron-thick phosphorus-
doped polysilicon is deposited via LPCVD on top of the PSG, and patterned by plasma
etching to define the mechanical accelerometer structure. This layer also acts as the lower
electrode for the sensing film. A thin layer of silicon nitride is next deposited by LPCVD,
and acts as a stress-compensation layer for balancing the highly compressive residual stresses
in the ZnO film. By varying the thickness of the Si3N4 layer, the accelerometer structure
may be tuned to control bending effects resulting from the stress gradient through the device
thickness. A ZnO layer is then deposited on the order of 0.5 micron, followed by sputtering
of a 0.2-micron layer of platinum (Pt) deposited to form the upper electrode. A rapid thermal
anneal is performed to reduce residual stresses in the sensing film. Afterwards, the Pt, Si3N4,
and ZnO layers are patterned in a single ion milling etch step, and the devices are then
released by passivating the ZnO film with photoresist, and immersing the wafer in buffered
hydrofluoric acid, which removes the sacrificial PSG layer .

7.3. Inertial Sensors

Inertial sensors are a type of accelerometer and are one of the principal commercial products
that utilize surface micromachining. They are used as airbag-deployment sensors in
automobiles, and as tilt or shock sensors. The application of these accelerometers to inertial
measurement units (IMUs) is limited by the need to manually align and assemble them into
three-axis systems, and by the resulting alignment tolerances, their lack of in-chip analog-to-
digital conversion circuitry, and their lower limit of sensitivity. A three-axis force-balanced
accelerometer has been designed at the University of California, Berkeley,to overcome some
of these limitations. The accelerometer was designed for the integrated MEMS/CMOS
technology. This technology involves a manufacturing technique where a single-level (plus a
second electrical interconnect level) polysilicon micromachining process is integrated with
1.25-micron CMOS.
7.4 . Microengines
A three-level polysilicon micromachining process has enabled the fabrication of devices with
increased degrees of complexity. The process includes three movable levels of polysilicon,
each separated by a sacrificial oxide layer, plus a stationary level. Operation of the small
gears at rotational speeds greater than 300,000 rpm has been demonstrated. Microengines can
be used to drive the wheels of microcombination locks. They can also be used in combination
33
with a microtransmission to drive a pop-up mirror out of a plane. This device is known as a
micromirror.

7.5 Some other applications

MEMS IC fabrication technologies have also allowed the manufacture of microtransmissions
using sets of small and large gears interlocking with other sets of gears to transfer power.

Figure no 17 –(Figure Showing BIO – MEMS Devices.).

A recently developed MicroStar cross-connect fabric developed by Bell Labs , a micro-

optoelectromechanical system device, is based on MEMS technology. The most pervasive
bottlenecks for communications carriers are the switching and cross-connect fabrics that
switch, route, multiplex, demultiplex, and restore traffic in optical networks. The optical
transmission systems move information as photons, but switching and cross-connect fabrics

34
until now have been largely electronic, requiring costly and time-consuming bandwidth-
limiting optical-to-electronic-to-optical conversions at every network connection and cross
point. MicroStar is composed of 256 mirrors, each one 0.5 mm in diameter, spaced 1 mm
apart, and covering less than 1 square inch of silicon. The mirrors sit within the router so that
only one wavelength can illuminate any one mirror. Each mirror can tilt independently to
pass its wavelength to any of 256 input and output fibers. The mirror arrays are made using a
self-assembly process that causes a frame around each mirror to lift from the silicon surface
and lock in place, positioning the mirrors high enough to allow a range of movement.
MicroStar is part of Lucent Technology's Lambda Router cross-connect system aimed at

35
helping carriers deliver vast amounts of data unimpeded by conventional bottlenecks.

Figure no 18 –(Figure Showing Pressure Sensor Belt on Jet Planes.).

As a final example, MEMS technology has been used in fabricating vaporization

microchambers for vaporizing liquid microthrusters for nanosatellites. The chamber is part of
a microchannel with a height of 2-10 microns, made using silicon and glass substrates. The
nozzle is fabricated in the silicon substrate just above a thin-film indium tin oxide heater
deposited on glass.
Among the presently available uses of MEMS or those under study are:

36
  Global position system sensors that can be included with courier parcels for constant
tracking and that can also sense parcel treatment en route
 Sensors built into the fabric of an airplane wing so that it can sense and react to air
flow by changing the wing surface resistance; effectively creating a myriad of tiny
wing flaps
 Optical switching devices that can switch light signals over different paths at 20-
nanosecond switching speeds
 Sensor-driven heating and cooling systems that dramatically improve energy savings
 Building supports with imbedded sensors that can alter the flexibility properties of a
material based on atmospheric stress sensing

8. CONCLUSION

Each of the three basic microsystems technology processes we have seen, bulk
micromachining, sacrificial surface micromachining, and micromolding employs a different
set of capital and intellectual resources. MEMS manufacturing firms must choose which
specific microsystems manufacturing techniques to invest in .
MEMS technology has the potential to change our daily lives as much as the computer has.
However, the material needs of the MEMS field are at a preliminary stage. A thorough
understanding of the properties of existing MEMS materials is just as important as the
development of new MEMS materials.
Future MEMS applications will be driven by processes enabling greater functionality through
higher levels of electronic-mechanical integration and greater numbers of mechanical
components working alone or together to enable a complex action. Future MEMS products
will demand higher levels of electrical-mechanical integration and more intimate interaction
with the physical world. The high up-front investment costs for large-volume
commercialization of MEMS will likely limit the initial involvement to larger companies in
the IC industry. Advancing from their success as sensors, MEMS products will be embedded
in larger non-MEMS systems, such as printers, automobiles, and biomedical diagnostic
equipment, and will enable new and improved systems .

BIOBLIOGRAPHY:

37
1. COURSE MATERIAL FROM SUMAN MASHRUWALA ADVANCED
NICROENGINEERING LAB. IIT BOMBAY.
2. SEARCH ENGINES www.google.com
3. ONLINE ENCLYOPEDIA www.wikipedia.com.
4. MICROMACHINE DEVICES.
5. M. Mehregany and S. Roy, Introduction to MEMS, 2000, Microengineering
Aerospace Systems, El Segundo, CA, Aerospace Press, AIAA, Inc., 1999.
6. M. Mehregany, K. J. Gabriel, and W. S. N. Trimmer, Integrated fabrication of
polysilicon mechanisms, IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices ED-35, 719-723
(June 1988).

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