This paper reports on the hybrid integration of a shape memory alloy (SMA) wire into a micromechanical structure to form a thermal drive system with advanced performance. The SMA wire is utilized as a bending actuator driving a suspended shuttle. This approach allows a cyclic movement with large displacements and forces. Depending on the temperature and the mechanical boundary conditions, the actuator provides maximum displacements of 160 µm and maximum forces of about 120 mN. Displacement and force of the drive system are adjustable by design of the return spring stiffness and a geometry-defined offset. The influence of spring stiffness, offset and temperature load on the actuator performance is presented. The proposed actuator system enables new applications, for example chip-based energy autonomous detection and counting of thermal thresholds.

In the aftermath of COVID-19 and with an increased awareness of health issues, the use of precisely targeted technological methodologies for the solution of specific healthcare problems is becoming increasing important in medical applications. The use of MEMS technology for the development of an efficient sterilisation cycle counter by Hahn-Schickard is a simple but very effective example of such an application. Surface micromachining is applied utilizing vapor HF (vHF) etching and subsequent polymer anti-stiction coating as an efficient technique to remove sacrificial buried oxide layers and to release micro structure without stiction. The vHF etching process has been optimized and reaches etch rates of 900 nm/min for the buried oxide with a uniformity of more than 95 % across a 100 mm wafer.

In this paper a novel fabrication technology for thermoelectric infrared sensors is presented. For the first time, the thermal insulation of the absorber structure is achieved by self-assembling multilayer thermocouples. After removal of a sacrificial oxide layer by vapor hydrogen fluoride (vHF) etching, the thermocouples lift off due to residual stress gradients. This provides the necessary distance between the absorber and the substrate. Compared to state-of-the-art sensors, this implementation does not require extensive bulk processing such as grinding and cavity etching to achieve a thermally isolated absorber structure. The deflection of the realized structures has shown high agreement with an analytical model which is also presented in this paper.

It is mandatory for manufacturers of reusable medical devices to specify the maximum of allowed sterilization cycles. This work focuses on the fabrication of an autonomous sterilization cycle counter in MEMS technology. Surface microm-achining is applied utilizing vapor HF (vHF) etching and subsequent polymer anti-stiction coating as an efficient tech-nique to remove sacrificial buried oxide layers and to release micro structure without stiction. The vHF etching process has been optimized and reaches etch rates of 900 nm/min for the buried oxide with a uniformity of more than 95 % across a 100 mm wafer. Based on this process a compatible design with perforated structures is implemented. Finally, devices of the sterilization cycle counter are successfully tested by a simulated sterilization cycle temperature test.

In this paper we present a hybrid microsystem for acquisition and counting of sterilisation cycles. The device includes a micromechanical counter mechanism and a thermal actuator based on a shape memory alloy (SMA). The device is designed to count 100 sterilization cycles. The basic functionality is investigated on a hotplate using a thermal temperature profile with a peak temperature of 135 deg C. In this manner, counting of thermal cycles is demonstrated.

Self-adaptive vibration energy harvesters convert the kinetic energy from vibration sources into electrical energy and continuously adapt their resonance frequency to the vibration frequency. Only when the two frequencies match can the system harvest energy efficiently. The harvesting of vibration sources with a time-variant frequency therefore requires self-adaptive vibration harvesting systems without human intervention. This work presents a self-adaptive energy harvesting system that works completely self-sufficiently. Using magnetic forces, the axial load on a bending beam is changed and thus the resonance frequency is set. The system achieves a relative tuning range of 23% at a center frequency of 36.4 Hz. Within this range, the resonance frequency of the harvester can be set continuously and precisely. With a novel optimized method for frequency measurement and with customized electronics, the system only needs 22 µW to monitor the external vibration frequency and is therefore also suitable for environments with low vibration amplitudes. The system was verified on a vibrational test bench and can easily be tailored to a specific vibration source.

The steam sterilization of reusable medical instruments is a critical process. Standardized treatments with hot, saturated steam at maximum temperatures of up to 138 degrees C often represent a significant thermal load, which is repeated with varying number of cycles depending on the medical device. Until now, there is no possibility for medical device manufacturers to monitor how often a product has been sterilized. However, this is necessary for both safety and warranty issues, since according to the European Medical Device Regulation (EU-MDR), the manufacturer must specify how often a product can be sterilized. In this paper the actuator approach for a micromechanical "sterilization cycle counter" is presented. It is designed to autonomously record, count and store steam sterilizations directly on the instrument by combining silicon micromechanics with shape memory alloy (SMA) actuators. This enables an autonomous operation without additional energy sources such as batteries. During the steam sterilization cycle, a certain temperature limit is exceeded once and detected by the SMA. The system development aims at the heterogeneous integration of standard SMA wires into a silicon microstructure. The transformation temperatures of the SMA is thereby increased to the relevant range by prestressing. In detail, the paper first describes the approach of the counting mechanism and the possibilities and limitations of implementing and pretensioning of SMA wires in silicon microstructures. Based on that, the development of the SMA actuator geometry using an SMA Finite Element Analysis (FEA) model according to the approach of Aurichio is described. The model is validated using an up-scaled test bench of the system, in which various geometric parameters can be varied. Finally, the results will be discussed in particular regarding the MEMS process chain to be carried out in the next step.