Mitsubishi Electric Announces World’s First Self-Recovery Property in Highly Oriented Pyrolytic Graphite for MEMS Vibration Resistance

Mitsubishi has confirmed the world’s first self-recovery property of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG), a van der Waals (vdW)-layered material. The confirmation resulted from joint research with the Solid Mechanics Laboratory (Hirakata Laboratory) of Kyoto University's Graduate School of Engineering.

The finding is expected to extend the operational lifetime of micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS), such as accelerometers and pressure sensors, by applying vdW-layered materials to improve device reliability.

Demand for MEMS is increasing due to advancements in smartphone functionality, autonomous driving and automotive safety systems, and wearable devices. Requirements include weight reduction combined with durability against prolonged vibration and shock. vdW-layered materials are considered promising because of their lightweight, flexible, and high-strength properties.

Producing micro-scale test specimens of vdW-layered materials has been technically challenging, and no established testing methods existed for evaluating their medium- to long-term reliability, particularly fatigue under repeated loading.

Mitsubishi Electric and Kyoto University fabricated micro-scale HOPG test specimens and developed a new testing method involving repeate...