Publications Details

Micromachined sensor and actuator research at Sandia`s Microelectronics Development Laboratory

Smith, J.H.

An overview of the surface micromachining program at the Microelectronics Development Laboratory of Sandia National Laboratories is presented. Development efforts are underway for a variety of surface micromachined sensors and actuators for both defense and commercial applications. A technology that embeds micromechanical devices below the surface of the wafer prior to microelectronics fabrication has been developed for integrating microelectronics with surface-micromachined micromechanical devices. The application of chemical-mechanical polishing to increase the manufacturability of micromechanical devices is also presented.