Author(s)

E. Chowanietz & A. Lees

Abstract

Design and simulation of silicon and metal microstructures E. Chowanietz, A. Lees School of Engineering and Manufacture, De Montfort University, ABSTRACT This paper describes work being carried out at De Montfort University on the mechanical design and simulation of microstructures. Four case examples are detailed: - 1. A silicon accelerometer 2. A silicon microphone 3. A metal accelerometer 4. A metal yaw rate sensor Microstructures 1 and 2 were manufactured using established semiconductor technology le. selective wet chemical etching of silicon Microstructures 3 and 4 were manufactured using the LIGA process [1]. Finite element analysis was used to simulate the mechanical operation of the microstructures. 1 Introduction Conventional planar silicon manufacturing technology has been amply covered in many previous papers [2]. The LIGA process in contrast is an emergent technology under rapid development. LIGA is a German acronym for the process steps of Lithographic, G

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