A MEMS incorporating a sensing element and a JFET electrically connected
to the sensing element is fabricated by the steps of: forming a first
layer of electrically insulating barrier material on a surface of a
substrate; patterning the first layer so as to expose a first region of
the substrate; doping by ion implantation the first region of the
substrate to form a well region of the JFET; forming a second layer of
barrier material on the surface of both the first layer and the first
region of the substrate; patterning the barrier material so as to expose
a part of the first region of the substrate; doping by ion implantation
the exposed part of the first region of the substrate to form source and
drain contact areas of the JFET; patterning the barrier material so as to
expose a second region of the substrate; and doping by ion implantation
the second region of the substrate to form gate and substrate contact
areas of the JFET in a single implantion step. The monolithic integration
of the JFET with the MEMS enables the bond wires for interconnecting the
sensing element and the associated sensing electronic circuitry to be
provided only after the buffering stage of such circuitry. This means
that the bond wires interconnecting the buffering stage and the remainder
of the circuitry are connected to a low impedance node which is less
sensitive to noise and parasitic capacitive loading. Thus greater
detection accuracy can be achieved by virtue of the fact that the
parasitic capacitances are reduced to a minimum.