Liquid packaging for MEMS sensors and RF devices

The packaging of MEMS devices in a liquid environment allows unique control of many device parameters that have been previously out of the design space for MEMS engineers. Packaging in a liquid environment enables many benefits through the control of several device parameters such as dielectric constant, thermal conductivity, electrical resistance, and damping coefficient. By selecting the appropriate packaging liquid, we have achieved near critical damping of actuated devices, almost a 2/spl times/ improvement in the tuning range for a tunable capacitor, and over a 4/spl times/ improvement in the sensitivity of a current sensor.