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The special features of the sensors are their small size and low power consumption. Miniaturization has been made possible by new production processes, including Deep Reactive Ion Etching used for surface micro-machining of mechanical elements in a silicon wafer.

In the beginning, sensors were developed for automotive safety systems, like the airbag. Thanks to new, cost-efficient fabrication methods and miniaturization, new areas of application in consumer electronics have been added: sensors are now also found in cell phones, gaming consoles, and laptops.

Unlimited Applications
The acceleration sensor enables an easier use of a cell phone: a display switches from horizontal to vertical when tilting the phone, the cell phone mutes when placing it upside down. More and more use cases are imaginable.

Using sensors, ‘electronic sense organs’, by which technological devices perceive their environment, mobile devices can react more and more intelligently to human demands.

MEMS sensors by Bosch Sensortec simplify the control of battery-operated consumer products and make it more intuitive. The spectrum of applications is enormous:

• mobile telephones and PDAs
• wearable music players
• electronic games
• sport and outdoor activities
• photo and video players
• mobile computing
• healthcare and security applications
• white goods
• logistics and transport monitoring.

Microsystem Technology as the key to high-performance sensors
Micromechanics is basically derived from modern semiconductor technology. The goal here is to use procedures from micro-electronics and other key processes to produce tiny, moveable mechanical components that execute functions, such as sensors that measure precise pressure or acceleration, printer heads of inkjet printers that produce clean writing on paper, or devices that monitor the physical activity of people with cardiac diseases.

Bosch engineers developed processes for surface micromechanics. The structures and components are built on the surface of a silicone slice and then, unlike other processes, extremely thick crystalline silicone layers are built up. With the new processes, very fine structures with vertical walls are created in the thick silicone layers that are applied. They in turn produce the moveable masses and freely vibrating spring elements and engrave precisely measured vacuum chambers in the applied silicone.

Additionally, they combine the sensors with electronic evaluation circuits and seal off their elements from environmental influences with a razor-thin layer in the smallest possible space. This is all on a scale of thousandths of millimetres, substantially finer than a human hair.