Silicon Micromachining for Sensor Applications

The capacitive silicon sensor technology is an example of how silicon micromachining can be applied to a family of sensors. Absolute pressure sensors, accelerometers, and microphones can be fabricated with basically the same technology. Its main elements are standard IC processing, silicon etching, and wafer bonding. Placed in a suitable microsystem development environment, bulk silicon micromachining is still a key technology for new and low cost sensors and actuators.