The conventional photolithography of crystalline silicon techniques is limited to two-dimensional and structure scaling. This can be overcome by using laser micromachine, a technique capable of producing three-dimensional structure and simultaneously avoiding the needs for photomasks. In this paper, we report on the use of RapidX-250 excimer laser micromachine with 248 nm KrF to create in-time mask design and assisting in the fabrication of micro-cantilever structures. Three parameters of the laser micromachine used to aid the fabrication of the micro-cantilever have been investigated; namely the pulse rate (i.e. number of laser pulses per second), laser energy and laser beam size. Preliminary results show that the 35 um beam size and 15 mJ of energy level is the most effective parameter to structure the desired pattern. The parallel lines spacing of the structure can be reached up to 10 um while cutting, holes drilling and structuring the cantilever using the laser beam can be accomplished to as low as 50 um in dimension.

Biosensor is an analytical device that consists of immobilized biological sensitive materials. When these materials are in contact with certain transducers, the sensor is able to convert biological signal into an electrical signal, hence allowing for certain measurement to be conducted. These sensors have the capability to detect certain human traits such as DNA, tissues, enzyme, antibody and antigen. To increase the biosensor performance, especially the interaction between the sensor and biological elements, high uniformity and good optical transmittance sensors are strongly important. Therefore, this paper will presents early characterization of biosensors using Zinc Oxide (ZnO) piezoelectric thin film deposited as sensing layer on Silicon substrate. We investigated the thin film surface morphology and optical characterization using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), and UV-Visible Spectrophotometer. We found that the surface roughness of the thin film varied from 1.1 NM to 4 NM and the grain size increased with the increase of annealing temperature, thus provide high surface uniformity that will enhance the sensitivity and specificity of the sensor.

MEMS electrostatic parallel plate beam actuators can be comprehensive within pull-in with the existence of an intermediate dielectric layer, which has a major outcome on the performance of such actuators. In this research, .MEMS parallel plate actuator with intermediate dielectric layer was simulated to study the relationship between pull-in voltage and thickness of dielectric layer. Higher dielectric thickness gives more regular and predictable behavior, thus variable dielectric thickness was tested with a view to obtaining desired characteristic beyond pull-in. Many MEMS devices operate beyond pull-in, e.g., capacitive switches, zipper varactors, and coplanar waveguide (CPW) resonators. The actuator designed consists of two parallel plate electrodes with dielectric layer in between, and dielectric layer with varying thickness were simulated using Intellisuite in order to observe pull-in voltage beyond 1µm displacement required.

Gait analysis measurement is a method to access and identify gait events and the measurements of motion parameters involving the lower part of body. This significant method is widely used in rehabilitation, sports as well as health diagnostic towards improving the quality of life. However, it is not routine practice due to costs involved in creating and using gait labs. Alternatively, inertial sensors such as micro cantilever accelerometer can be used in the development of cheap and wearable gait analysis systems. Human stride segmentation measurement based on micro-accelerometer cantilever is used in the study of the lower limb movement patterns that include walk, jump and run; and the measurements of the motion parameters. A complete system consists of a fabricated sensor, a Wheatstone bridge circuit and a signal amplifier tailored for real-time stride analysis measurement is proposed. The novel fabrication method of an accelerometer sensor using laser micromachining is introduced in order to develop a simple way in realizing the sensor formation. This study allows us to optimize the requirements of hard-mask and fabrication process steps by reduction of 30% and 25% respectively. In the general framework, this research activity is focused towards development of piezoresistive cantilever formation using laser micromachining for fast fabrication development for real life gait and stride segmentation measurement application.