Patent ID: 7601537

Claim:
A method for checking the hermeticity of a closed cavity of at least one micrometric component which includes a structure made on or in a portion of a substrate and a cap fixed onto a zone of the substrate to protect the structure, the cavity being delimited by the inner surface of the cap, the structure, and the zone of the substrate, wherein the method includes steps of: placing the micrometric component in a container, said component including inside the cavity an indicator element for checking hermeticity whose optical properties change permanently in the presence of a reactive fluid capable of reacting with the indicator element, hermetically sealing the container that contains said component, filling the container with a reactive fluid under pressure in order to subject said component to a higher fluid pressure to the pressure in the cavity for a determined time period, the container including means for introducing the reactive fluid, and checking the variation in the properties of the indicator element by optical means as a function of the quantity of reactive fluid that has penetrated the cavity and reacted with the indicator element to determine the hermeticity of said cavity.