Calibration of a microvision system for MEMS device characterization

Abstract

With the growing use of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), it becomes increasingly important that reliable, accurate methods for characterizing and calibrating MEMS be developed. One microsystem in need of specific characterization measurements is the polychromator, an electrically programmable, surface micromachined diffraction grating. A microvision system has been developed to measure the electromechanical behavior of the polysilicon beams that comprise this device. Proper rigor demands that the system for making characterizations should itself be characterized; its accuracy and precision should be determined, so that users may understand the possible error margins of its measurements. This thesis describes HUMS (Heavily Upsampling Microvision System), the software application developed to automate the characterization of the polychromator, and the method developed to quantify the accuracy of the HUMS application.