Handbook of Silicon Based MEMS Materials and Technologies

40.2. Gas Sources into MEMS Devices

The performances of particular MEMS devices shown in Table 40.1 are related to the internal pressure of the package: the internal pressure of these MEMS devices needs to be stable all through the device lifetime in order to avoid any shifts in device performances. However, the pressure inside MEMS packages continues to increase because gas sources continue to de-sorb gasses during the MEMS device lifetime.

The main sources of the gas inside a MEMS device can be divided into two categories:

• the vapor and gas fluxes during the lifetime that are classified in three classes:
  • the gas which penetrates into the system as a result of leakage
  • the gas coming from the outgassing of materials present in the system ...