Novel CMOS compatible frontside micromachining of integrated thermoelectric sensors

CMOS compatible integrated thermoelectric sensors were designed and realized using a standard CMOS process and frontside RIE micromachining. The suspended structures were designed to have a spiral structure that enhances the thermal resistance and isolation of the sensor. Using dry RIE frontside micromachining for the release of the sensors allows better yield in realization of sensitive and smaller sensor pixels. Measured results of sensors used for IR detection show NEP's down to 0.4 nW/ Hz and response times down to 3 msec in 70*70 /spl mu/m/sup 2/ pixels.