In this paper the current status of microplasma devices and systems made in the LTCC technology is presented. The microplasma characteristics and applications are described.We discuss the properties of the LTCC materials, that are necessary for reliable operation of the sources. This material is well known for its good reliability and durability in harsh conditions. Still, only a few examples of such microplasma sources are described. Some of them have been developed by the authors and successfully used for chemical analysis and synthesis.

Investigations on integration of optoelectronic components with LTCC (low temperature co-fired ceramics) microfluidic module are presented. Design, fabrication and characterization of the ceramic structure for optical absorbance is described as well. The geometry of the microfluidic channels has been designed according to results of the CFD (computational fluid dynamics) analysis. A fabricated LTCC-based microfluidic module consists of an U-shaped microchannel, two optical fibers and integrated light source (light emitting diode) and photodetector (light-to-voltage converter). Properties of the fabricated microfluidic system have been investigated experimentally. Several concentrations of potassium permanganate (KMnO4) in water were used for absorbance/transmittance measurements. The test has shown a linear detection range for various concentrations of heavy metal ions in distilled water. The fabricated microfluidic structure is found to be a very useful system in chemical analysis.