New developments in the integration of micromachined sensors

摘要

Micromachining technologies, thin film deposition and bonding technology, along with continued advances in silicon semiconductor circuitry, have resulted in miniature sensing devices whose performance is equal to and sometimes better than their full-sized counterpart. However, despite the obvious benefits and needs for microsystems solutions, the production and marketing thereof have proved to be more difficult than anticipated. The advantages related to the use of conventional IC processes to fabricate the various components of a microsystems have been often acknowledged. The problems resulting from the constrains of IC compatibility requirements have been extensively discussed. New upcoming silicon micromachining technologies and some interesting developments in the existing ones, seem to help meet these requirements. In this paper, some very promising techniques, such as eppi-micromachining, laser micromachining, deep reactive ion etching of silicon and low temperature Si to Si bonding are reviewed. Examples of integrated micromachined sensors and devices which benefit from these new developments will be presented to underline the promise and expectation of these technologies. Further, developments made in CAD systems for microelectromechanical systems and the availability of MEMS technology in a multiuser environment (multi-project chip) are mentioned as they can have a positive impact on the integration of micromachined sensors.