This article describes the preparation of thermal interface materials (TIMs) based on silver microparticles and gold nanoparticles, fabricated via low-temperature sintering, and evaluates their mechanical and thermal properties. The characterization involved several techniques, including shear strength testing, metallographic analysis, and thermal resistance measurements. A comparative analysis of the key material properties, namely thermal and mechanical performance, was conducted. The results identify the 2:1 LC formulation—comprising silver microparticles, gold nanoparticles, glycol, and ethanol at a weight ratio of 2:0.01:7:5—as the most effective among the tested TIMs. Furthermore, a positive correlation between increased sintering temperature and enhanced mechanical properties was observed.

Vacuum anodic bonding is widely applied for hermetic packaging of microelectro­mechanical (MEMS) devices; however, obtaining reliable high-quality bonds under vacuum conditions remains challenging. We have assumed that main reason for that is reduced heat transfer between bonded structures and a heating stage. To prove that we have investigated thermal phenomena occurring during vacuum anodic bonding using infrared thermography, temperature of silicon and silicon-glass structures was continuously monitored during heating, evacuation, and pressurisation of a custom-built vacuum bonding system. The measurements revealed that, after reaching high vacuum, the temperature of bonded elements decreased by approximately 40–60%, despite only minor changes in the hot plate temperature. The effect was observed for both single-layer and multilayer structures and was attributed to the disappearance of gas-assisted heat transfer under vacuum conditions. The obtained results explain the low ion currents and reduced bonding efficiency frequently observed during vacuum anodic bonding. Based on experimental observations, several practical approaches for improving heat transfer were proposed. Their implementation increased the bonding yield from approximately 25% to 75%. The presented methodology provides a useful diagnostic tool for optimising vacuum anodic bonding processes and improving the reliability of MEMS packaging.Vacuum anodic bonding is widely applied for hermetic packaging of microelectro­mechanical (MEMS) devices; however, obtaining reliable high-quality bonds under vacuum conditions remains challenging. We have assumed that main reason for that is reduced heat transfer between bonded structures and a heating stage. To prove that we have investigated thermal phenomena occurring during vacuum anodic bonding using infrared thermography, temperature of silicon and silicon-glass structures was continuously monitored during heating, evacuation, and pressurisation of a custom-built vacuum bonding system. The measurements revealed that, after reaching high vacuum, the temperature of bonded elements decreased by approximately 40–60%, despite only minor changes in the hot plate temperature. The effect was observed for both single-layer and multilayer structures and was attributed to the disappearance of gas-assisted heat transfer under vacuum conditions. The obtained results explain the low ion currents and reduced bonding efficiency frequently observed during vacuum anodic bonding. Based on experimental observations, several practical approaches for improving heat transfer were proposed. Their implementation increased the bonding yield from approximately 25% to 75%. The presented methodology provides a useful diagnostic tool for optimising vacuum anodic bonding processes and improving the reliability of MEMS packaging.

This paper presents the integration of a planar thick-film thermoelectric microgenerator based on CuNi–Cu materials with an HF RFID tag STM M24LR64E-R. The developed microgenerator consisted of 20 thermocouples connected in series and was characterized by a total internal resistance of 7.11 Ω. To match the energy parameters of both systems, a low-power LTC3108 DC–DC converter was used, allowing the increase in the voltage generated by the microgenerator from 80 mV to 2.35 V. The output power obtained from the converter was 29.3 µW, which proved sufficient to power the RFID tag. In idle mode, the power consumption of the tag was approximately 17 µW, while during the communication process it increased to 42 µW for approximately 1 ms. Subsequently, for about 25 ms, the energy demand of the system remained below the power delivered by the converter. The energy balance analysis performed demonstrated the possibility of correctly powering the tag throughout the entire communication cycle. The results obtained indicate that the use of a thermoelectric microgenerator as a power source for an RFID tag may contribute to reducing the system response time by eliminating the need for wake-up procedures, as well as potentially increasing the effective communication range.