Today's microelectromechanical system (MEMS) used in the production manufacturing technology rely on expensive semiconductor lithography equipment. Wafer production, therefore, often need to have a considerable market, just enough to cover a specific components of the cost of production requirements, and to realize the possibility of commercialization.

The United States at the Massachusetts institute of technology (MIT) micro system technology research laboratory (Microsystems Technologies Laboratories) researchers show several new ways of building at low cost MEMS, not only can let the production element to realize a simple customization, while using a desktop 3 d print fabs, for manufacturers to provide a new alternative paths.

The new ways of manufacturing of MEMS can achieve some new sensor with a smaller number of components; These components are often unable to find a big enough market for its use of traditional process from the IP to the full development of terminal products and cost.

MIT researchers caused traditional MEMS components manufacturing way to avoid many of the necessary conditions for manufacturing cost becomes expensive.

"I have used the horizon of manufacturing technology is based on low temperature and vacuum conditions," MIT micro system technology research scientist in the laboratory chief Luis Fernando Velasquez - Garcia said, "we use the highest temperature is about 60 ℃. In a chip, you may have to grow the oxide, but its growth condition is about 1000 ℃. And in many cases, need high vacuum reactor, to avoid pollution. But we quickly for manufacturing, issued by the chip need only a few hours, from start to finish, the manufacturing time."

Depending on the actual manufacturing technology used by the intense emitter array, spraying by a strong electric field in the micro fluid. In order to make gas sensor, from the British company Edwards Vacuum guest researchers Velasquez - Garcia and Anthony Taylor used the so-called "internal power transmitter".

A transmitter with cylindrical pore size allows fluid to pass. The researchers of graphene oxide with thin fluid, spraying the preset pattern on silicon substrate. Fluid quickly evaporated, leaving only tens of nanometers thick graphene oxide thin coating. Because the chip is very thin, after interaction with gas molecules, change its resistance value in measurable way, make its can be used for testing.

According to Velasquez - Garcia said that the gas sensors are obtained in terms of accuracy can be comparable to a few hundred dollars of expensive commercial products, and its speed is faster, and only a few cents to make out.

When the researchers for the first time build, Velasquez - Garcia and Taylor used by electric spraying emitter is created using traditional semiconductor manufacturing. In its in Microelectromechanical system (Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems), a second study, published in the December issue of Velasquez - Garcia use economical high quality 3 d printing machines to produce plastic electric spraying launchers, more in line with its size and performance of gas sensor transmitter can be realized.

The transmitter in the graph is a part of 49 emitter array. Because manufactured cascading emitter external fan-shaped clearly visible

Researchers can not only make the electric spray elements more cost effective, 3 d printing technology also make it can be custom components for a particular application, a few days will be able to update to the next generation of micro-nozzle.

In fact, they can also be in its custom desktop MEMS fabs sprouted new MEMS components. Another big advantage is the low temperature process for sensor designers to deposit some cannot be compatible with the material of high temperature the semiconductor process, such as biological molecules with certain characteristics.

This new manufacturing technology could launch a new application field for MEMS, also let more IP implementation feasible commercial products. "In some cases, the MEMS manufacturer must be in what they want to make the product and get some kind of compromise between the micro machining technology requirements and compromise," Velasquez - Garcia explains, "because only a small number of components for a large amount of market conditions."

Has a complete wiring graphene oxide gas sensor chip. Graphene oxide film covered electrode structures in green dot

Thermal conductivity measurement of graphene oxide gas sensor optical microscope images. The upper left corner plug-in shows active area of the sensor features