Recent Developments in Integrated Sensors

The application of micro-electronics to non-electronic products is noticeably impeded by the lack of sensors which have a performance/price ratio comparable to that of integrated circuits. The great improvement of integrated circuits was made possible by the new processing techniques. In the first part of this paper the suitability of silicon for also making sensors will be discussed. In the second part some novel concepts, which become feasible when silicon is employed, will be described.