As possible approaches to reducing the cost of micromachined switches per switching function, two kinds of membrane switches with multiple contacts have been fabricated by bulk silicon micromachining and compared technically. These devices are tested as binary sensors and additionally bonded to silicon heaters and filled with suitable fluid to work as thermopneumatic relays. Compared with the single membrane closing an array of contacts, an array of small membranes is shown to be a favourable alternative. Thermopneumatics, on hand, are a promising means for actuating microrelays with loads above pure signal level. #1997 Elsevier Science S.A.
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