The reliability of MEMS in shock environments is a complex area which involves structural dynamics, fracture mechanics, and system reliability theory etc. With growth in the use of MEMS in automotive, IoT, aerospace and other harsh environments, there is a need for an in-depth understanding of the reliability of MEMS in shock environments. Despite the contributions of many articles that have overviewed the reliability of MEMS panoramically, a review paper that specifically focuses on the reliability research of MEMS in shock environments is, to date, absent. This paper reviews studies which examine the reliability of MEMS in shock environments from 2000 to 2020 in six sub-areas, which are: (i) response model of microstructure, (ii) shock experimental progresses, (iii) shock resistant microstructures, (iv) reliability quantification models of microstructure, (v) electronics-system-level reliability, and (vi) the coupling phenomenon of shock with other factors. This paper fills the gap around overviews of MEMS reliability in shock environments. Through the framework of these six sub-areas, we propose some directions potentially worthy of attention for future research.
Keywords: MEMS; microstructure mechanics; reliability; shock.