PRISM Seminar Series – Spring 2011
Allyson Hartzell
Director of Technology Projects
at Lilliputian Systems, Inc.
“MEMS Reliability”
Bio: Allyson Hartzell has nearly three
Ms. Hartzell’s career includes her work in
scientific consulting with Exponent/Failure
Analysis Associates, as the Director of
Reliability at Continuum Photonics, and as
Senior Staff Scientist at Boston
Micromachines Corporation making MEMS
deformable mirrors for adaptive optics. Ms.
Hartzell earlier held positions as a Senior
Staff Scientist at Analog Devices, as a
Principal Engineer at Digital Equipment
Corporation, and at IBM as a reliability
engineer and scanning electron microscopist.
decades of professional experience with
emerging technologies. She is an
internationally recognized expert in both
MEMS reliability and airborne molecular
contamination, and has expertise in surface
chemistry and analytical techniques for
failure analysis. Ms. Hartzell possesses a
broad background in semiconductor and
MEMS fabrication, yield enhancement,
emerging technology manufacturing,
packaging materials and processing,
cleanroom science, and semiconductor
At Digital Equipment’s semiconductor
tooling. She has extensive experience in
materials characterization, surface analysis facility, Ms. Hartzell developed the airborne
and airborne chemistry sampling techniques. molecular contamination laboratory and was a
reliability engineer for CMOS technology and
She has published papers in numerous
high pin count hermetic packaging. Ms.
technical journals and conference
proceedings, has given invited and keynote Hartzell was the Director of Reliability at
Continuum Photonics Inc., where she
talks at scientific conferences, and has one
performed reliability and materials analyses
patent in MEMS (microelectromechanical
systems) technology. Ms. Hartzell holds a on high port count MEMS optical switch
Masters of Science in Applied Physics from technology. At Analog Devices, Ms. Hartzell
was founder of the inertial and optical MEMS
Harvard University and a Bachelors of
Science in Materials Engineering from Brown reliability groups, developed physics of
failure models, and lead numerous projects
University.
involving failure analysis and reliability
issues of MEMS devices, associated circuitry,
Ms. Hartzell recently published the book
and packaging. This work utilized her
'MEMS Reliability' which is one of the
experience in manufacturing, data analysis,
MEMS Reference Series by Springer
Business and Science Media. This is the first microcontamination, and silicon-on insulator
(SOI) wafer fabrication.
book of its kind in her technical field. She
also published a book chapter in
As Director of Technology Projects for
'Contamination-Free Manufacturing for
Lilliputian Systems Inc, Allyson Hartzell
Semiconductors and Other Precision
Products' published by Marcel Dekker. Ms. currently works on MEMS based fuel cell
technology. Lilliputian Systems, Inc. has
Hartzell was the SPIE MEMS Reliability/
Packaging/ Characterization/ Test Conference developed the world’s first Personal Power™
solution for Consumer Electronics (CE)
Chair and Proceedings editor for the years
2007 and 2008. She has been on numerous devices, a revolutionary family of products
targeted at the $50 billion portable power
scientific advisory boards, including the
market. The Company’s breakthrough
International Technology Roadmap for
solution delivers the only viable small formSemiconductors (ITRS), IEST Forum for
factor battery replacement that provides the
Nanoscale Research Facilities, MEMS
enormous run-time improvements demanded
Industry Group Advisory Board, and
Cleanrooms Magazine as an editorial review by today’s CE devices. Lilliputian’s patented
member. Ms. Hartzell was the US Delegate Silicon Power Cell™ technology is based on
to the ISO/Technical Committee on Airborne highly efficient and proven solid oxide fuel
cells (SOFCs) and MEMS wafer fabrication
Molecular Contamination (ISO-14644-8).
methods.
Friday, April 8, 2011
3:00 pm, Birck 1001
Abstract: MEMS Reliability,
especially the study of reliability
physics, is a vast area that is still in
its infancy in academic coursework.
University research, government
laboratory research, and consortia
studies have been and continue to
contribute invaluable advances in
MEMS reliability physics.
However, working in industry and
mass producing hundreds of
millions of reliable MEMS devices,
some of which are intended for
safety critical applications, provides
a very different perspective. The
fundamental approach to MEMS
device reliability employs some of
the same basic concepts and
methodologies estabilshed in high
volume automoative and IC
manufacturing. A major challenge
in MEMS is the shear diversity of
potential applications, novel
materials and processes, unique
sensing and acutation principles,
and manufaturing techniques.
MEMS Reliability in industry will
be presented through lifetime
prediction methodologies,
acceleration factor development, the
importance of failure analysis and
physics of failure using case studies
of successful MEMS products that
have been produced in high volume
with excellent field reliability.
Refreshments will be served. For further information please contact Prof. Alina Alexeenko, [email protected]
For information about PRISM visit: http://www.purdue.edu/discoverypark/prism