No.10（2015）1.Development of low power consumption, low cost, and high durability micro heater

Hidehiko Yamaoka

  In general, the micro-heater is adopted for sensors such as gas sensor, humidity sensor, flow sensor and thermal acceleration sensor. The downsizing, low power consumption and high speed response are required for these sensors. In order to respond to these requirements, a miniature type heater is being developed and manufactured applying the Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) technology.
  However the MEMS technolgy is a high barrier for small-sized and medium enterprises (SMEs) to develop a product using a MEMS micro-heater and enter into a market because of the complicated structure of micro-heater, and the costly semiconductor manufacturing process required for the production process. Further, low power consumption for a long term operation with a battery and decreased thermal stress for damage prevention of element are strongly required.
  In this study, an improvement on the manufacturing process has been engineered for the new entry of an SME by cutting down the initial investment cost and reducing the number of processes with high cost of running. The new structure has been successfully develped with low power consumption based on reduced thermal capacity, and enhanced durability based on relieved thermal stress.

Keywords
Micro heater, Cavity, Platinum electrode, Anchor

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