Realization and performance of thin SiO2/SiNx membrane for microheater applications

There is considerable interest in thin-film microheaters for decreasing the power consumption in portable applications. In this paper, we present the study of new stacked thin membranes (SiO2/SiN1.2) supporting the heating element (polysilicon resistor). The great interest of using SiN1.2 deposited onto a SiO2 layer is the improvement in mechanical properties of the membrane, leading to a fabrication yield very close to 100%. Microheaters fabricated with a 1.6 mm x 1.6 mm square and 0.7 mu m thick SiO2/SiN1.2 membrane give promising results in terms of power consumption; 230 degrees C is reached with an electrical power of 50 mW. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A.