  This paper reports on the systematic electromechanical characterization of a
new three-axial force sensor used in dimensional metrology of micro components.
The siliconbased sensor system consists of piezoresistive mechanicalstress
transducers integrated in thin membrane hinges supporting a suspended flexible
cross structure. The mechanical behavior of the fragile micromechanical
structure isanalyzed for both static and dynamic load cases. This work
demonstrates that the silicon microstructure withstands static forces of 1.16N
applied orthogonally to the front-side of the structure. A statistical Weibull
analysis of the measured data shows that these values are significantly reduced
if the normal force is applied to the back of the sensor. Improvements of the
sensor system design for future development cycles are derived from the
measurement results.
