Selective Carbon Material Engineering for Improved MEMS and NEMS

Abstract

The development of micro and nano electromechanical systems and achievement of higher performances with increased quality and life time is confronted to searching and mastering of material with superior properties and quality. Those can affect many aspects of the MEMS, NEMS and MOMS design including geometric tolerances and reproducibility of many specific solid-state structures and properties. Among those: Mechanical, adhesion, thermal and chemical stability, electrical and heat conductance, optical, optoelectronic and semiconducting properties, porosity, bulk and surface properties. They can be affected by different kinds of phase transformations and degrading, which greatly depends on the conditions of use and the way the materials have been selected, elaborated, modified and assembled. Distribution of these properties cover several orders of magnitude and depend on the design, actually achieved structure, type and number of defects. It is then essential to be well aware about all these, and to distinguish and characterize all features that are able to affect the results. For this achievement, we point out and discuss the necessity to take into account several recently revisited fundamentals on carbon atomic rearrangement and revised carbon Raman spectroscopy characterizing in addition to several other aspects we will briefly describe. Correctly selected and implemented, these carbon materials can then open new routes for many new and more performing microsystems including improved energy generation, storage and conversion, 2D superconductivity, light switches, light pipes and quantum devices and with new improved sensor and mechanical functions and biomedical applications.

The effect of vacuum annealing on the structure and properties of the electrically conductive a-CN coating

“…Note that according to recent studies [28,29], the peaks G and D are due to other mechanisms than described above. The G peak which is nominally observed at ~1580 cm − 1 (if no stress shift is to be considered), does not correspond to Csp 2 -Csp 2 stretching modes, but to local stationary phonon vibration modes of hexagonal cyclic sp 2 rings.…”

Downsizing Effects on Micro and Nano Comb Drives

“…In fact, MEMS downsizing leads to significant changes in their physical behaviour, producing different outcomes with respect to their macro-scaled equivalent; thus, the scaling itself becomes a key parameter for a microdevice to tune for a given application [23]. As a result, new perspectives unfold for the conception of novel devices able to exploit different operating principles and achieve new, unexplored and enhanced results [24,25] even at the nanoscale, with the Nano Electro-Mechanical Systems (NEMS) [26][27][28][29][30][31]. Nevertheless, the conceptualization, fabrication and testing of a new device must be conducted with a deep understanding of the downsizing effects on its physics, mechanics, performance and functioning, with advantages also in energy, money and time savings for the device prototyping.…”

Modelling of Stem Cells Microenvironment Using Carbon-Based Scaffold for Tissue Engineering Application—A Review

“…Among the promising biomaterials, carbon has shown excellent biocompatibility with SCs. Moreover, carbon possessed electrical properties [ 11 ], mechanical properties [ 12 ], thermal properties [ 13 , 14 ], corrosive resistivity [ 15 ], and excellent gas permeability [ 16 , 17 ]. The use of carbon in the culture of SCs is advancing, and the material has been utilised in many studies involving SC application, including human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) [ 18 ], adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (AMSCs) [ 19 ], mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) [ 20 ], cancer stem cell [ 21 ], human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (HUC-MSCs) [ 22 ], neural stem cells (NSCs) [ 23 ], embryonic stem cells (ESCs) [ 24 ], and bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) [ 25 ].…”