Micromachines made easy

Scientists in Sweden have developed a novel technique for making micromachines and demonstrated its potential by making a micro pinball table. Martin Bring and colleagues at the Chalmers University of Technology and the Institute of Microelectronics in Gothenburg believe that their process overcomes many of the problems associated with the ‘dry etching’ step that is conventionally used to fabricate silicon-based microelectromechanical devices, and say that it could provide an easy and robust alternative to existing methods (M Bring et al. 2003 J. Micromech. Microeng. 13 S51). Silicon micromachines are used in applications as diverse as transducers in sensors, micromirros in digital projectors, and optical switches.