Silicon micromachining for microsensors and microactuators

System integration is often by the incompatibility of technology used for the fabrication of signal processors and signal transducers like sensors and actuators. Most of the problems related to conventional transducers such as miniaturization performance or price can be overcome by the use of silicon as a mechanical material and the use of highly developed IC technology for their fabrication. Therefore, a rapidly increasing demand of micromachined silicon transducers can be observed. The multidisciplinary use of silicon for mechanical and electrons on the same chip leads to completely new transducer and system concepts. This review describes the fabrication processes commonly used for silicon micromachining. The potential of this technology will be illustrated by various examples of miromechanical transducers.