DEVELOPMENT OF SURFACE MICROMACHINING TECHNIQUES COMPATIBLE WITH ON-CHIP ELECTRONICS

Silicon has long been known to have excellent mechanical properties al though the full potential of the material was not realized until micro machining techniques enabled the fabrication of true mechanical struct ures. The first types of structure were fabricated using bulk micromac hining techniques, where the silicon wafer is etched to leave free-sta nding mechanical structures. More recently surface micromachining tech niques have received considerable attention. In this case the mechanic al structures are fabricated in thin films deposited on the silicon wa fer surface. This development has yielded structures considerably smal ler than those fabricated in bulk micromachining. In this paper the de velopment of surface micromachining techniques is reviewed. This inclu des the modifications required to achieve compatibility with standard electronic circuitry.