Integration of wear-resistant titanium carbide coatings into MEMS fabrication processes

Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) are a key technology for small-scale satellites, integrated sensors, and intelligent control systems. However, a major limitation for Si-based systems involving tribological components is their inability to withstand prolonged sliding surface contact that results in high wear and causes them to fail within minutes of operation. Our aim is to protect the Si surfaces with wear-resistant coatings. Due to practical limitations of coating fully released MEMS structures, we have addressed the integration of the coating into the MEMS processing sequence. This paper describes the direct integration of a pulsed-laser-deposited wear-resistant titanium carbide (TiC) coating into the Si MEMS fabrication process. The in situ deposited TiC layer also provides an ideal substrate to the various possible lubrication schemes proposed for moving MEMS.