Nxp Usa, Inc.

John Shipman

Peter T Jones

Michael Naumann

William DeWitt McWhorter

Arvind S Salian

Larry Dale Metzler

Chad Krueger

Tripti Regmi

Methods and apparatuses are provided for evaluating or testing stiction in Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) devices utilizing a mechanized shock pulse generation approach. In one embodiment, the method includes the step or process of loading a MEMS device, such as a multi-axis MEMS accelerometer, into a socket provided on a Device-Under-Test (DUT) board. After loading the MEMS device into the socket, a series of controlled shock pulses is generated and transmitted through the MEMS device utilizing a mechanized test apparatus. The mechanized test apparatus may, for example, repeatedly move the DUT board over a predefined motion path to generate the controlled shock pulses. In certain cases, transverse vibrations may also be directed through the tested MEMS device in conjunction with the shock pulses. An output of the MEMS device is then monitored to determine whether stiction of the MEMS device occurs during each of the series of controlled shock pulses.

Controlled pulse generation methods and apparatuses for evaluating stiction in microelectromechanical systems devices

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Tempe, AZ, United States of America

John Shipman