Single crystal silicon carbide (SiC) has such excellent physical and chemical material properties that SiC microsystems including MEMS sensors/actuators and signal conditioning/computing electronics can operate at temperatures in excess of 600^oC.  Microsystems which can operate in harsh environments (~600^oC) are necessary for many space and aeronautic applications such as sensors and electronics for a space mission to the inner solar system or combustion/ emission control sensors/electronics located in an aeronautical engine environment.  The Propulsion Instrumentation Working Group (PIWG), a working group composed of government labs and engine manufacturers, suggested that the minimum environmental temperature requirement for sensors operating in an aerospace engine (fan area) is 500^oC.  SiC MEMS and semiconductor devices fabricated at NASA GRC have been demonstrated operable at temperatures as high as 600^oC.

Besides the SiC sensor/device technology, packaging technology is essential for high temperature microsystem technology.  Currently, most high temperature MEMS sensors/actuators and electronics are tested only in laboratory environments, and commercially available products have not been validated for long term operations.  One of the major reasons for this is that packaging technology for high temperature microsystems operable at and over 500^oC has not been completely validated/evaluated.   Validating packaging technologies for SiC MEMS sensors/actuators and electronics is an immediate need for many NASA missions, and therefore, is one of the current tasks of the NASA Electronic Parts and Packaging Program.