Cost Effective MEMS Fabrication of a Thermoelectric Nanowire Characterization Platform (TNCP)

To decrease the cleanroom requirement of a MEMS chip fabrication, Nd:YAG laser machining is integrated into silicon micromachining. However, to get a smooth surface the laser parameters must be chosen carefully, and a subsequent wet chemical etching treatment of the surface is essential.The process is used to fabricate a Thermoelectric Nanowire Characterization Platform (TNCP). Our TNCPs are designed to measure a single nanowire's thermoelectric properties: heat and electrical conduction, and the Seebeeck coefficient. Furthermore it has the unique ability to also study the crystallographic structure of these nanowires by transmission electron microscopy (TEM).