Semiconductor heater and method for making

Abstract

A sealable air gap (14) is formed between a heating element (16) and a base (11) to improve the thermal isolation of a semiconductor heater (10). A top layer (17) is formed over the heating element (16) which seals the air gap (14) so that the sealable air gap (14) can be at either atmospheric pressure or under a vacuum. The semiconductor heater (10) can be used in a variety of applications including as a heat source to adjust the resistivity of an overlying resistive layer (18). The embodiments of the semiconductor heater (10) also include a chemical sensor (20). Heat from a heating element (26) is used to keep an overlying layer of chemical sensing material (28) at an optimal temperature. The embodiments of the present invention also include a transducer (40) to heat a fluid (52) in a well (55) such as in an ink jet application.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.