Micro electro mechanical systems microphone-design and process development

This thesis is a quest to design and fabricate a MEMS microphone. The investigations done as part of the thesis not only include the design of the microphone, but the manufacturability challenges and test issues as well. The motive behind covering the breath of issues in this thesis has been driven by the technical requirement at XFAB Texas Inc. where, I had the opportunity to be part of the team, working toward development of a MEMS process.One of the constraints in adding MEMS capability to the CMOS process was that no additional fabrication tools could be bought by the company as it would increase the cost. Also, no new chemistry could be introduced to the fabrication environment as the procedures would require additional training in environment, safety and health (ESH) and would translate into time and costs. Therefore, study and analysis of the fabrication capabilities present at XFAB, and, developing a new fabrication process was a part of the make challenges