PowderMEMS – Generic Integration of Functional Three-Dimensional Microstructures on Wafer Level

Abstract:
The novel ability to precisely integrate three-dimensional microstructures on substrate level with a thickness of up to several hundred micrometers from a wide range of materials and with custom geometries enables new possibilities for the design and manufacture of MEMS. However, fabrication of such voluminous microstructures on wafer level is challenging if not impossible with standard semiconductor processes. For this reason, a generic powder-based micromanu-facturing technique called PowderMEMS was proposed earlier. This work presents recent advances of PowderMEMS for the wafer-level integration of micromagnets, porous membranes and structures with high mass density. The structures are discussed along their application in energy harvesting, magnetic field sensors, integrated inductors, and wafer-level chip-scale packaging.