Modeling Impact-induced Failure of Polysilicon MEMS: A Multi-scale Approach

Failure of packaged polysilicon micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) subjected to impacts involves phenomena occurring at several length-scales. In this paper we present a multi-scale finite element approach to properly allow for: (i) the propagation of stress waves inside the package; (ii) the dynamics of the whole MEMS; (iii) the spreading of micro-cracking in the failing part(s) of the sensor. Through Monte Carlo simulations, some effects of polysilicon micro-structure on the failure mode are elucidated.