Near Vacuum Gas Damping in MEMS: Numerical Modeling and Experimental Validation

This paper validates an innovative simulation tool for the prediction of gas damping occurring in MEMS working in near vacuum at frequencies in the range of 20-30 kHz. Three different families of test devices, representing standard building blocks of MEMS, have been designed, fabricated, tested, and simulated. A total of 292 structures belonging to 36 different geometries have been addressed in order to confirm the ability of the numerical model to capture the dependence on geometrical parameters and to provide a quantitative prediction. Tests have been operated both at variable pressures in a vacuum chamber and in the closed package, and demonstrate an accuracy in the order of 15%.