Silicon Membranes for Smart Silicon Sensors .

The development of smart Si sensors which combine active circuitry and sensor on the same chip, has drawn attention in terms of miniaturisation and cost-effectiveness of microsensors. Interest in micromachining of Si to fabricate membranes derives from the need for inexpensive and more versatile sensors. This paper reports the results on fabrication of Si membranes by anisotropic etching of Si in EDP solution. Good quality membranes of 10 Nanometer thickness were fabricated. Infrared detector based on thermopile structure was realised on 50 Nanometer thick Si membrane using polysilicon and Al junctions. Thermo-emf generated at 150 °c is nearly 8 mv