Abstract: A rhombic column heater, with the cross section area of 240 mm×60 mm, the height of 150 mm and the gap width of 50 mm, is designed and fabricated by ICP technology. It takes full advantage of the characteristics of the specific resistance-temperature variance of extrinsic semiconducting material to add the automatic thermoregulation function to the microthruster heating system, keep the temperature near the intrinsic point, and avoid the heater sintering by overheat, when constant current is supplied. The feasibility of the heater and the automatic thermoregulation function are already verified by the theoretical analysis and the experimental result. The intrinsic temperature of the tested heater with resistance of 74 W is 550 K, which is consistent with the theoretical value.

Key words: Self-regulation, Heating resistor, MEMS, Microthruster