Q9Micro and Smart System Technology

Thermal loading refers to the mechanical stress and deformation induced in a microstructure due to temperature changes, arising from the mismatch in thermal expansion coefficients between different layered materials (such as silicon and deposited films) in a MEMS device; this thermally-induced stress must be accounted for in design since it can cause warping, residual stress buildup, or even structural failure if not properly modeled and compensated.