Micromechanically Structurized Sensors on GaAs: An Integrated Anemometer

Micromechanical structures on GaAs are fabricated by making use of the different chemical properties of heterostructures, epitaxially grown on GaAs. One of the most advanced heterosystems on GaAs substrates is the AlGaAs/GaAs system. Due to the large technological relevance of this system a number of wet chemical etchants exist that are capable to either etch GaAs selectively to AlGaAs or vice versa. This is the prerequisite for a large number of different types of integrated sensors making use of micromechanical elements such as membranes, cantilevers etc. In this paper the realization of an anemometer integrated on GaAs is presented.