Introduction
Monocrystalline Silicon as commonly used in microelectronics is also suitable as a preferable material for material measures of lengths and forces because of its excellent properties.
- Its structural perfection,
- the low thermal expansion,
- the large heat conductivity (similar to metals),
- the low dependence of the elastic constants on the temperature,
- the remarkable hardness and
- the resistance against corrosion
provides a high thermomechanical stability. Finally, the available processes of silicon microtechnologies allow a structuring with maximum precision.
Our company SiMETRICS GmbH was founded in September 2004. The staff members have accumulated a lot of experiences in the field of microstructuring of silicon during many years at the Chemnitz University of Technology. They worked in several projects concerning with the development of material measures of lengths and forces.
Today the team of SiMETRICS GmbH still works closely together with several departments of the Chemnitz University of Technology. There is also a strong cooperation between SiMETRICS GmbH and the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt in Braunschweig, the nation metrology institute of Germany, and further centres of microtechnologies.