Arrays of MEMS fabricated flow sensors inspired by the acoustic flow-sensitive hairs found on the cerci of crickets, have been designed, fabricated and characterized. The hairs consist of up to 1 mm long SU-8 structures mounted on suspended membranes with normal translational and rotational degrees of freedom. Electrodes on the membrane and on the substrate form variable capacitors allowing for capacitive read-out. Capacitance versus voltage, frequency dependency and directional sensitivity measurements have been successfully carried out on fabricated sensor arrays, showing the viability of the concept. The sensors form a model-system allowing for investigations on sensory acoustics by their arrayed nature, their adaptivity via electrostatic interaction (frequency tuning and parametric amplification) and their susceptibility to noise (stochastic resonance)

Different kinds of thin-film coatings were investigated with regard to their applicability as hydrophobic coatings for MEMS. The films were deposited onto silicon and borosilicate glass substrates by spincoating of Dyneon TM PTFE and PFA, plasmapolymerization of HMDS-N and C 4 F 8 as well as liquid-phase and vapor-phase coating of SAMs from DDMS, FDTS, FOTS and Geleste Aquaphobe TM CM. The layer properties were analyzed using profilometry, FTIR, SEM and contact angle measurements. Furthermore, the adhesion of the layers to the substrates was determined in an acetone ultrasonic bath. The influence of various deposition process parameters on the properties of the films was investigated. As these layers can be used in microfluidic systems, as water-repellent layers and as anti-stiction coatings, they are suited for versatile fields of application.

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The flame ionization detector (FID) quantifies small concentrations of organic compounds by flame ionization of hydrocarbons and measurement of the resulting ion current. The ion current represents the number of carbon atoms in the sample gas. The miniaturization of the FID by MEMS technology (µFID) is expected to increase its use, because of reduced oxyhydrogen consumption. This loosens safety precautions and makes portable applications possible. In contrast to a former µFID design, the current planar µFID is designed to prevent environmental air from entering the system and deteriorating the measurement signal. The oxyhydrogen flame burns in the silicon plane of an almost completely encapsulating glass-silicon-glass sandwich. Only a small opening remains for removal of the exhaust gas from the system. In between the detector electrodes, a guard electrode is integrated to intercept and by-pass leak currents past the picoammeter, which then only measures the ion current. Due to the design of the guard electrode, small leak currents are still measured by the picoammeter. Yet, these leak currents can be corrected for to obtain the ion current. Measurements of the ion current as a function of the applied voltage and the sample gas flow show expected FID behaviour.