Manufacturing a Stacked Nanoscale Fishing Electrode for Gas Sensor Applications Using Freely Suspended Structures

Abstract

Classic processes for manufacturing integrated circuits in CMOS technology usually have to deal with the composition of geometries that result in solid layers. However, these layers may exhibit rugged surfaces which have to be planarized by suitable techniques before further process steps are performed. Today, the fabrication of many microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) utilize established processes on the basis of well-known CMOS technology. Especially the mechanical parts of MEMS use geometries that show structures with cavities, suspended formations or similar shapes, sophisticated to design. If a planarization or equivalent rough process is required, these fragile units often make a further handling difficult or nearly impossible. Therefore different strategies for an appropriate development of stacked freely suspended hexagonal grids for gas sensor applications are investigated in this article.