Reverse Engineering as a Didactic Tool in Nano- and Micro Technology

This paper describes a student exercise in the field of nano & micro technology from the course “Solid State Electronics and Micro Technology”. The course corresponds to a 10 ECTS point workload and is aimed at the bachelor student level. The timeframe for the exercise is 3x4 hours distributed over two weeks of study. The exercise is based on reverse engineering of a commercial piezoresistive pressure sensor and the students discover and analyse how this device is made. Based on their observations they calculate the expected performance of the device and compare it to the measurements they have performed. The use of reverse engineering as a didactical tool thus promotes active learning.