Applications of Microtechnology

Course content

Graduates of this module are able to select, describe, plan and compare the structure, function and design of microsensors, microactuators, microfluidic components and microsystems as well as the process-accompanying measurement technology, taking into account microtechnical processing methods. They can analyze a given application need, derive the resulting requirements for the microsystem and determine and describe suitable basic structures and sensor, actuator, and fluidic principles. Furthermore, they are capable of explaining, planning and comparing different methods for the evaluation and electronic processing of sensor signals.

The module covers the three main topics microsensors, microactuators and microfluidic systems. Microsensors include capacitive, piezoresistive, inductive and resonant sensors, which are manufactured on the basis of various production processes. The manufacturing processes of volume and surface micromechanics are presented. In addition, deep lithography, micro electroplating and soft lithography are explained in more detail. For the further processing of a sensor signal, methods for signal processing are taught. The topic micro-actuator technology includes the description of the functional actuator structure, the explanation of different micro-actuator principles including their special features and modes of operation, their structure and their design. Microfluidic systems are defined and the basic knowledge for this is imparted. Concrete application examples, such as mixers, valves and pumps are described and discussed.