Conclusion

Microsystem-based devices offer great potential for electrical metrology and instrumentation. Comparison with existing devices is in their favor, in terms of size, price and power consumption. The principle of balancing electrical and mechanical forces in moving-plate capacitive microsystem components can be applied, for example, to DC and AC voltage references, RMS-DC converters and high-frequency power meters. The ultimate stability of components made from silicon single crystal is expected to be very good, thanks to the excellent mechanical properties of silicon single crystal. Low 1/f noise is also expected. In practice, however, the stability of microsystem components is often limited by electrostatic charging effects at surfaces and interfaces, as well as on dielectric layers. Hermetic encapsulation and temperature control of the components are essential, due to the high temperature...