Fabrication of MEMS on Printed Circuit Boards

There are many ways to manufacture Micro Electro-mechanical Systems (MEMS). For thin-film fabrication of integrated MEMS parts, several different techniques (like etching and electroplating) are applied. Typically, the whole fabrication of MEMS devices is conducted on a carrier wafer, which is fixed and bonded on a Printed Circuit Board (PCB). This procedure is complex and time-consuming. Also the system integration of the bonded MEMS faces difficulties. To reduce complexity and time, as well as to facilitate its integration, a new processing approach is investigated at the Institute for Micro Production Technology at the Leibniz Universität Hannover. The approach chosen for fabrication of electro-magnetic MEMS devices is the application of PCB as carrier wafer. After preparation of the PCB, the MEMS components can be structured by thin-film technology directly on the PCB using the laminated Cu layer. This fabrication procedure allows integrating the MEMS components into the system from the beginning.