Radiation effects on surface micromachined comb drives and microengines

Surface micromachined comb drive and microengine fluence thresholds and failure modes were investigated in X-ray, electron, and proton total-dose environments. Very high fluence levels were necessary to induce motion degradation or lockup for normal device biasing or operation. For the abnormal biasing of ungrounded or partially grounded dice, significantly lower fault thresholds were observed, but still in a medium or high fluence range.