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About This Technology

Solid-state microsensors are miniaturized devices for measuring physical and chemical quantities such as pressure, acceleration, speed, and chemical concentration. The advanced photolithographic, etching, and deposition techniques in wide use in the silicon industry have led to a predominance of silicon-based solid-state microsensors; manufacturers can produce hundreds or thousands of these sensors on a single silicon wafer. However, the emergence of non-silicon-based micromachined solid-state sensors is creating niche but important opportunities. Solid-state microsensors are a technological breakthrough in a mature worldwide sensor and transducer industry. These compact, low-cost electronic devices are inherently compatible with microprocessor control systems, including those based on artificial-intelligence concepts like neural networks and fuzzy logic. OEMs and end users will use solid-state microsensors to add significant value to their products for minimal added cost.

The first uses of silicon solid-state microsensors were in high-cost aerospace and military applications. As prices have declined and fabrication technologies have evolved, silicon pressure sensors have penetrated automotive, industrial process-control, and medical applications. Silicon accelerometers are seeing similar market growth in automotive , consumer, and industrial uses, including air-bag actuation, ride control, scrolling text on handheld electronic devices, and vibration monitors for industrial machinery. Although less developed, chemical microsensors will eventually find use in applications ranging from in situ blood-monitoring devices to handheld units for field chemical analysis. Advanced chemical microsensors also await further development but are increasingly finding use in domestic alarms, portable analyzers, HVAC systems, combustion monitoring, and medical applications. A multitude of new markets and applications for solid-state microsensors will continue to emerge, as the price of sensors drops further and as the sensors acquire increased intelligence and networking capability. Advances in sensor packaging, design, and fabrication open new performance-sensitive applications for microsensor technology.

Solid-state microsensors will continue to displace conventional electromechanical sensors, particularly in high-volume markets. OEMs will use electronic microsensors to add functions and improve the reliability of their products with no cost or size penalties, especially in automotive and consumer electronics applications. Industrial end users will use microsensors in an expanding number of process-control and manufacturing applications, even incorporating these sensors into fabricated materials. The medical industry sees microsensors as a boon to the continuous and direct monitoring of critical patient variables such as blood pressure and blood chemistry; plus, they allow monitoring to take place in the home. The logical high-tech counterparts to sophisticated microprocessors, solid-state microsensors, will be essential components in future systems that sense, evaluate, and act intelligently in response to environmental stimuli.