Innovative Concept for the Fabrication of Micromechanical Sensor and Actuator Devices Using Selectively Metallized Polymers

Abstract We report on an innovative concept for the fabrication of micromechanical sensors and actuators, where polymer devices fabricated by injection molding are covered by metal layers of copper, nickel–phosphorus and gold using electroless plating. First we discuss the mechanical properties of miniaturized mechanical polymer beams covered with a metal layer. We find that at a sufficient metal layer thickness the mechanical properties of the beams are dominated by the metal cover surrounding the beam. Furthermore, we designed and fabricated a differential accelerometer from metallized liquid crystal polymer and present very first experimental results. We find a sensitivity and frequency response which is well suited to cover a broad band of applications. We conclude that this new technology can be used to fabricate diverse micromechanical sensor or actuator devices.