In the process of MEMS development towards miniaturization and multifunctionality, processing precision, interface compatibility, and system integration at the submicron scale impose strict requirements on material performance. With excellent micro-nano molding capability, stable dielectric properties, and unique rheological behavior, silicone rubber and silicone oil have become the "molecular 纽带 (纽带)" connecting micromechanical structures and electronic systems. From sensitive units of micro-sensors to driving components of micro-actuators, from microfluidic chip channel construction to MEMS packaging interface protection, they are solving key problems in micro-nano manufacturing through material innovation, providing core support for intelligent sensing and microsystem integration.

一、Material Challenges in MEMS Manufacturing

（一）Processing Dilemmas at Micro-Nano Scales

The feature size of MEMS devices has entered the submicron level, and traditional materials face three major bottlenecks:

Significant scale effect: Macro material properties change drastically at micro-nano scales. For example, the fracture strength of ordinary polymers decreases by 60% at a thickness of 10μm.

Interface stress concentration: Thermal stress generated at the microstructural interface of different materials easily causes film cracking or delamination.

Abnormal fluid behavior: Viscous force dominates fluid flow characteristics in microchannels, making it difficult for traditional lubricating materials to form stable oil films.

Silicone rubber and silicone oil break through limits via molecular design: The micro-nano imprinting molding precision of silicone rubber reaches 50nm, and the flow activation energy of silicone oil in microchannels is reduced by 40%, achieving performance continuity from macro to micro-nano scales.

（二）Compatibility Demands for Multifunctional Integration

MEMS systems often need to realize multiple functions such as mechanical, electrical, and optical dimensions. Silicone rubber achieves breakthroughs through special processes:

Heterogeneous material bonding: The bonding strength between the plasma-treated silicone rubber surface and silicon wafer reaches 5J/m², meeting microstructural packaging requirements.

Nano-composite molding: 10nm-level barium titanate particles are uniformly dispersed in silicone rubber, increasing the dielectric constant to 15 without affecting micro-processing precision.

Surface texture control: Multilevel microstructures (100nm-10μm) are constructed on the silicone rubber surface through soft lithography to regulate surface wettability and friction characteristics.

二、Silicone Rubber: Construction and Functional Regulation of MEMS Structures

（一）Innovations in Sensitive Units of Micro-Sensors

Silicone rubber for MEMS pressure sensors achieves performance leaps through triple optimization:

Bionic microstructure design: Silicone rubber protrusion arrays simulating spider sensory hairs increase pressure sensitivity to 10kPa⁻¹, capable of detecting weak pressure changes of 0.1Pa.

Conductive network construction: Carbon nanotubes form a conductive network in silicone rubber with a percolation threshold of only 1.2vol%. After a tire pressure sensor adopted this, the detection accuracy reached ±0.5kPa.

Temperature self-compensation: Silicone rubber introducing shape memory polymer segments realizes automatic sensitivity calibration in the range of -20℃ to 80℃.

（二）Breakthroughs in Driving Materials for Micro-Actuators

In the field of microfluidic control, silicone rubber shows unique advantages:

Pneumatic-driven flexible valve: A 50μm-thick silicone rubber diaphragm can completely close microchannels at 0.1MPa air pressure with a response time < 10ms.

Electrothermal-driven actuator: Graphene-doped silicone rubber can achieve a local temperature rise of 30℃ after power-on, with a driving displacement of 20% of the film thickness.

Magnetically controlled microstructure: Silicone rubber embedded with nickel nanowires can produce directional bending in a 0.1T magnetic field, used for gait control of miniature robots.

三、Silicone Oil: Fluid Management and Interface Optimization for MEMS Systems

（一）Medium Innovations for Microfluidic Chips

Silicone oil shows multiple values in micro-nano fluidics:

Low Reynolds number flow control: Silicone oil with a viscosity of 100cSt still maintains laminar flow in 10μm channels. After a chemical analysis chip adopted this, the sample mixing efficiency increased by 50%.

Droplet generation and manipulation: The low surface tension (20mN/m) of silicone oil enables droplet generation at a frequency of 1000Hz with a size distribution error < 5%.

Biological sample protection: Silicone oil with surface-modified hydrophilic molecules can inhibit blood cell adhesion in microchannels, suitable for point-of-care testing (POCT) systems.

（二）Interface Protection for MEMS Packaging

In the field of vacuum packaging, silicone oil plays a key role:

Interface stress buffering: In a silicone oil-filled MEMS accelerometer, zero-point drift caused by thermal cycling (-40℃ to 125℃) is reduced by 80%.

Electrical insulation guarantee: Silicone oil with a breakdown voltage > 40kV/mm ensures the long-term reliable operation of microelectrode arrays.

Anti-adhesion treatment: The adhesion force of the silicone oil-coated microstructure surface is reduced from 10nN to below 1nN, solving the sticking problem of MEMS devices.

四、Future Innovation Directions of MEMS Materials

（一）R&D of Intelligent Response Microstructure Materials

Researchers are developing multi-physical-field responsive materials:

Photo-thermal coupling drive: Silicone rubber embedded with VO₂ nanoparticles can produce reversible deformation under laser irradiation, used for miniature light-controlled valves.

Humidity-sensitive rheology: Silicone oil added with chitosan can adjust viscosity between 10-1000cSt with humidity changes, suitable for environmentally adaptive microfluidics.

Application of quantum tunneling effect: Silicone rubber-metal nanoparticle composites show a conductivity change amplitude of 10³ times under micro-strain, used for ultra-sensitive tactile sensing.

（二）Performance Breakthroughs of MEMS-Dedicated Silicone Oil

Through molecular design optimization, new silicone oils achieve performance leaps:

Ultra-low dielectric loss: The dielectric loss tangent of fluorinated polysiloxane is < 0.001 at 10GHz, meeting the needs of RF MEMS.

Quantum dot compatibility: Surface-passivated silicone oil can stably disperse CdSe quantum dots, used for miniature spectral sensors.

Self-assembled interface: Silicone oil molecules can form ordered monomolecular layers on the microstructure surface, achieving precise regulation of the friction coefficient from 0.8 to 0.05.

（三）Collaborative Innovation of Micro-Nano Manufacturing-Material-Function

The cross-integration of machine learning and micro-nano processing is emerging:

AI-driven process optimization: Using neural networks to predict the shrinkage rate in silicone rubber micro-nano molding, reducing processing errors from ±500nm to ±50nm.

Digital twin modeling: Establishing a flow simulation platform for silicone oil in microchannels to predict transmission characteristics under complex flow fields in advance.

Multifunctional integrated design: Topology-optimized silicone rubber-silicone oil composite microsystems increase sensor-actuator integration by 3 times.

From smartphone gyroscopes to wearable biochemical sensors, silicone rubber and silicone oil are promoting the iterative upgrading of MEMS technology through material innovation. They are not only the builders of micro-nano structures but also the implementers of functional integration. With the vigorous development of the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence, these silicon-based materials will continue to break through in frontier fields such as miniature energy devices, biochips, and quantum sensing—providing unlimited possibilities for the development of MEMS towards smarter, more efficient, and more compatible directions, and helping humanity enter the intelligent era driven by micro-nano technology.


Low compression set Fluorosilicone compound（MY-FSR SERIES）-Mingyi Silicone