Combination of Ceramic Laser Micromachining and Printed Technology as a Way for Rapid Prototyping Semiconductor Gas Sensors

Abstract

The work describes a fast and flexible micro/nano fabrication and manufacturing method for ceramic Micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS)sensors. Rapid prototyping techniques are demonstrated for metal oxide sensor fabrication in the form of a complete MEMS device, which could be used as a compact miniaturized surface mount devices package. Ceramic MEMS were fabricated by the laser micromilling of already pre-sintered monolithic materials. It has been demonstrated that it is possible to deposit metallization and sensor films by thick-film and thin-film methods on the manufactured ceramic product. The results of functional tests of such manufactured sensors are presented, demonstrating their full suitability for gas sensing application and indicating that the obtained parameters are at a level comparable to those of industrial produced sensors. Results of design and optimization principles of applied methods for micro- and nanosystems are discussed with regard to future, wider application in semiconductor gas sensors prototyping.

Aerosol‐Jet Printed Sensors for Environmental, Safety, and Health Monitoring: A Review

“…[156] Vasiliev et al and Samotaev et al have also been active in employing AJP toward the fabrication of platinum microheaters on ceramic membranes to advance MEMSbased sensors. [161][162][163][164] Taken together, these studies merit AJP's feasibility for the fabrication of power-efficient, flexible hightemperature microheaters for practical sensing applications. [159] b) Aerosol-jet printed double meander gold microhotplate 500 × 500 μm 2 .…”

Thermal Conductivity Gas Sensors for High-Temperature Applications

“…To reduce the sensor prototype cost, 96% Al 2 O 3 monolithic ceramic was used to manufacture the package of the sensor. The special 20 W fiber laser with tunable pulse duration in the range of 50–200 ns and a wavelength of 1.064 μm, controlled by specially produced software [ 11 ], was used to fabricate different parts of the developed sensor. This approach allowed us to combine the process of micromilling with a comparison of the fabricated devices, its geometrical parameters within the 3D model, and the achieved quality after its fabrication.…”

“…The software and hardware developed for the micromilling process are described in more detail [ 11 ]. At the stage of 3D modeling, it is necessary to add jumpers to the model, which will hold it in the substrate (frame) array.…”

“…This was necessary due to the specifics of the rapid production of the bottom part of package-the thinner the ceramic substrate, the faster it is milled by laser (often, this is directly proportional to the dependence of the production time on the volume of material removed). It is more profitable to make a thin base of the package The software and hardware developed for the micromilling process are described in more detail [11]. At the stage of 3D modeling, it is necessary to add jumpers to the model, which will hold it in the substrate (frame) array.…”

“…Laser micromilling of fired ceramics gives us fine results in previous work with catalytic-type gas sensors [ 7 ]. Field-effect gas sensors [ 10 ] and metal oxide gas sensors [ 11 ] are used at high operation temperatures and are capable of working in harsh environmental conditions.…”