Representative methods for sealing MEMS devices include depositing insulating material over a substrate, forming conductive vias in a first set of layers of the insulating material, and forming metal structures in a second set of layers of the insulating material. The first and second sets of layers are interleaved in alternation. A dummy insulating layer is provided as an upper-most layer of the first set of layers. Portions of the first and second set of layers are etched to form void regions in the insulating material. A conductive pad is formed on and in a top surface of the insulating material. The void regions are sealed with an encapsulating structure. At least a portion of the encapsulating structure is laterally adjacent the dummy insulating layer, and above a top surface of the conductive pad. An etch is performed to remove at least a portion of the dummy insulating layer.

A method for producing an electromigration-resistant crystalline transition-metal silicide layer of a layer sequence, for example, to provide a micro heater includes, supplying a semiconductor substrate including an electrically insulating layer; physically depositing a transition metal on the electrically insulating layer; carrying out a plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition while forming an inert gas plasma; conveying monosilane to the inert gas plasma, with the monosilane decomposing into silicon and hydrogen and the silicon in the gaseous phase entering into a chemical reaction with the transition metal in order to form the electromigration-resistant crystalline transition-metal silicide layer.

A DNA sequencing device and methods of making. The device includes a pair of electrodes having a spacing of no greater than about 2 nm, the electrodes being exposed within a nanopore to measure a DNA strand passing through the nanopore. The device can be made by depositing a conductive layer over a sacrificial channel and then removing the sacrificial channel to form the electrode gap.

In a microelectromechanical component according to the invention, at least one microelectromechanical element (5), electrical contacting elements (3) and an insulation layer (2.2) and thereon a sacrificial layer (2.1) formed with silicon dioxide are formed on a surface of a CMOS circuit substrate (1) and the microelectromechanical element (5) is arranged freely movably in at least a degree of freedom. At the outer edge of the microelectromechanical component, extending radially around all the elements of the CMOS circuit, a gas- and/or fluid-tight closed layer (4) which is resistant to hydrofluoric acid and is formed with silicon, germanium or aluminum oxide is formed on the surface of the CMOS circuit substrate (1).

A method for manufacturing a resonator that effectively addresses variations in resistivity for each wafer. The method for manufacturing a resonator includes forming a Si oxide film on a surface of a degenerated Si wafer, where the Si oxide film has a thickness set that is based on the doping amount of impurity in the degenerated Si wafer.

A metal and/or ceramic microlattice structure, comprising an alternation of first layers and of second layers formed by tubes, and interlocking with each other in order to form open loops cooperating two by two in order to form nodes of an articulated/ball-joint nature.

The invention relates to a method of fabricating a micro machined channel, comprising the steps of providing a substrate of a first material and having a buried layer of a different material therein, and forming at least two trenches in said substrate by removing at least part of said substrate. Said trenches are provided at a distance from each other and at least partly extend substantially parallel to each other, as well as towards said buried layer. The method comprises the step of forming at least two filled trenches by providing a second material different from said first material and filling said at least two trenches with at least said second material; forming an elongated cavity in between said filled trenches by removing at least part of said substrate extending between said filled trenches; and forming an enclosed channel by providing a layer of material in said cavity and enclosing said cavity.

Representative methods for sealing MEMS devices include depositing insulating material over a substrate, forming conductive vias in a first set of layers of the insulating material, and forming metal structures in a second set of layers of the insulating material. The first and second sets of layers are interleaved in alternation. A dummy insulating layer is provided as an upper-most layer of the first set of layers. Portions of the first and second set of layers are etched to form void regions in the insulating material. A conductive pad is formed on and in a top surface of the insulating material. The void regions are sealed with an encapsulating structure. At least a portion of the encapsulating structure is laterally adjacent the dummy insulating layer, and above a top surface of the conductive pad. An etch is performed to remove at least a portion of the dummy insulating layer.

A bonding pad layer system is deposited on a semiconductor chip as a base, for example, a micromechanical semiconductor chip, in which at least one self-supporting dielectric membrane made up of dielectric layers, a platinum conductor track and a heater made of platinum is integrated. In the process, the deposition of a tantalum layer takes place first, upon that the deposition of a first platinum layer, upon that the deposition of a tantalum nitride layer, upon that the deposition of a second platinum layer and upon that the deposition of a gold layer, at least one bonding pad for connecting with a bonding wire being formed in the gold layer. The bonding pad is situated in the area of the contact hole on the semiconductor chip, in which a platinum conductor track leading to the heater is connected using a ring contact and/or is connected outside this area.

For the purpose of shortening the MEMS manufacturing TAT, the MEMS manufacturing method according to the present invention includes a step of extracting the first MEMS with first characteristic in a range approximate to the required characteristic from the plurality of MEMS preliminarily prepared on the main surface of the substrate, and a step of forming a second MEMS having the required characteristic by directly processing the first MEMS.