Quartz : a material for microdevices

One of the ways to reduce cost and dimensions of mechanical devices, while improving their reliability, is to manufacture them in the same way as integrated circuits. This gives rise to the concept of micromachining. As this technology has been developed by people from microelectronics fields, most of the reported devices are made of silicon. This article deals with another material suitable for micromachining: monocrystalline quartz. The crystal and its technologies are described and practical considerations and realizations are given.