Microcantilever hotplates: Design, fabrication, and characterization

This paper describes design, fabrication, and characterization of microhotplates based on microcantilevers. Six different hotplate cantilever designs are proposed to investigate heating response time and temperature uniformity. Devices were fabricated and their electrical, thermal, and mechanical characteristics were measured. The cantilevers have electrical resistance in the 1 kΩ range, consume 1-100 mW power, have a heating and cooling time constant <1 ms, and maximum operation temperature >1000 °C. The temperature uniformity was characterized and is excellent for all of the devices. These cantilevers are targeted for use where both microhotplates and microcantilevers would be useful sensing platforms.