Hundreds of researchers gathered in Hilton Head, SC, from June 5-9, for the 2022 Hilton Head Solid-State Sensors, Actuators, and Microsystems Workshop. This was the 20th meeting of the biennial event, which is known as one of the premier workshops for researchers to discuss recent advances in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS).
The workshop started in 1984 and draws attendees from academia, industry, and government organizations with diverse backgrounds in engineering and science. It opened to international attendees in 2020 and provides a forum for knowledge exchange and collaboration. This year’s theme was "Preparation and Prevention: Tackling our Grand Challenges."
Nine papers from Georgia Tech researchers in the Institute for Electronics and Nanotechnology (IEN) were accepted to the conference. The paper, A Microtip Equipped Bidirectional Microrobot for Navigating on and Penetrating a Leaf Surface, presented by Tony H. Wang, Dea Gyu Kim, Zhijian Hao, and Azadeh Ansari, won the Springer Nature Best Poster Award. In addition, the paper Wafer-Level High-Aspect-Ratio Deep Reactive Ion Etching of 4h-Silicon Carbide on Insulator Substrates presented by Ardalan Lotfi, Micheal P. Hardin, Zhenming Liu, Alex Wood, Chris Bolton, Kevin Riddell, Huma Ashraf, Joanne Carpenter, and Farrokh Ayazi, was one of two runners up in the category.
“I consider this the flagship North American conference for MEMS researchers,” said IEN Executive Director Oliver Brand. “It is a highly interactive workshop and a great opportunity for our graduate students to learn about the newest research and mingle with their peers from the top MEMS research groups across the country.”
In addition to Georgia Tech’s strong presence in paper presentations, IEN Principal Research Scientist Paul Joseph ran a National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI) booth to spread the word about the initiative, which the National Science Foundation funds. Ansari, Brand, Ayazi, and Nima Ghalichechian also served on the local organizing committee, and IEN sponsored the workshop.
The other papers presented at the workshop are listed below:
Power Handling Challenges of High KT2 AlScN Lamb Wave Resonators
Mingyo Park, Yue Zheng, and Azadeh Ansari
Exploiting Nonlinear Properties of VO2 in a mmWave Antenna-Coupled Sensor
Shangyi Chen, Mark Lust, and Nima Ghalichechian
A High-Q Solid Disk BAW Gyroscope in Monocrystalline 4h Silicon-Carbide with Sub-PPM As-Born Frequency Split
Zhenming Liu, Ardalan Lotfi, Michael P. Hardin, and Farrokh Ayazi
Utilization of Varying Transient Response Times in Gravimetric and Impedimetric Multivariate Gas Sensor with Single Polymeric Sensing Film for Enhanced Selectivity
Steven A. Schwartz, Luke A. Beardslee, and Oliver Brand
An Out-of-Plane Wide Bandwidth Micro-G FM Accelerometer with Differential Output
Seungyong Shin, Tanya Chauhan, Justin Matthews, Haoran Wen, and Farrokh Ayazi
Enhancement of Q and K2 in AL0.8SC0.2N/GAN/Sapphire Surface Acoustic Wave Resonators Using Semiconductor Ground Contact
Yue Zheng, Jialin Wang, Mingyo Park, Ping Wang, Ding Wang, Zetian Mi, and Azadeh Ansari
Piezoresistive Micro-Pillar Sensor for In-Plane Force Sensing for Biological Applications
Isha Lodhi, Durga Gajula, Devin K. Brown, Wilbur A. Lam, David R. Myers, and Oliver Brand