Micromachined silicon cantilever paddles with piezoresistive readout for flow sensing

A group of piezoresistive silicon cantilever paddles have been fabricated, each of which consists of a paddle square which is attached by two cantilever arms, and a piezoresistive sensor on the root surface of each arm. The process involves a combination of wet and dry etching techniques. The fabricated cantilever paddles are long and wide with a paddle square of . The measured sensitivity of the cantilever devices is , which is in good agreement with the values predicted by our derived formula. These cantilever paddles have potential application in flow sensors.