We report on a flow sensing approach based on deflection monitoring of micro beams buckled by the compressive thermal stress due to electrothermal Joule's heating.

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We report on a flow velocity measurement technique based on snap-through detection of an electrostatically actuated, bistable micromechanical beam. We show that induced elecro-thermal Joule heating and the convective air cooling change the beam curvature and consequently the critical snap-through voltage (VST). Using single crystal silicon beams, we demonstrate the snap-through voltage to flow velocity sensitivity of dVST/du ≈ 0.13 V s m−1 with a power consumption of ≈ 360 μW. Our experimental results were in accord with the reduced order, coupled, thermo-electro-mechanical model prediction. We anticipate that electrostatically induced snap-through in curved, micromechanical beams will open new directions for the design and implementation of downscaled flow sensors for autonomous applications and environmental sensors.

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