Design and optimization of a micro piezoresistive pressure sensor

Chen, Shuang; Ming-quan, Zhu; Ma, Binghe; Yuan, Weizheng

doi:10.1109/nems.2008.4484350

Cited by 32 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Of the various types of pressure sensors, tenso-resistive devices have several attractive properties such as high sensitivity, a simple physical model and fabrication, high accuracy, low cost, a strong output signal and low drift; these properties make them a good choice in many industrial measurement applications [6]. Piezoresistive pressure transmitters fall into several subcategories based on the material utilized for piezo-resistors [21,22], the material used for the plates (diaphragms) [22][23][24], the wafer type [25], the method of micromachining the diaphragms [23], as well as the type of pressure measured by the transmitter (e.g. absolute or gauge).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modelling Fluid Loss Faults in an Industrial Pressure Sensor

Soltani

Bushuev

Tugova

et al. 2020

2020 Global Smart Industry Conference (GloSIC)

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The efficient operation of industrial processes requires the timely and accurate diagnosis of faults in process equipment, particularly sensors, as acting on faulty measurement data can result in inefficient or dangerous operation. A common fault mode in industrial pressure sensors is mechanical damage resulting in the leakage of the internal oil (used to transmit external pressure to the sensing element) and the development of an air pocket within the device. In previous work, we have experimentally determined the faulty measurement characteristics of a commercial pressure sensor, where the sensor manufacturer has provided modified sensors with calibrated degrees of oil loss. The current paper develops a mathematical model of this tensoresistive pressure sensor, which describes and explains the impact that oil loss, and hence the presence of an air pocket, has on the static measurement response.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modelling Fluid Loss Faults in an Industrial Pressure Sensor

Soltani

Bushuev

Tugova

et al. 2020

2020 Global Smart Industry Conference (GloSIC)

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“…The piezoresistive pressure sensors utilize the resistance change to measure the pressure; the capacitive pressure sensor detects the pressure by capacitance variation, while the principle of the resonant pressure sensor is based on the resonant frequency shift of the resonant element under the measured pressure. So far, a great deal of effort has been done on the structure design and parameter optimization of the aforementioned pressure sensors in order to improve their performances [5][6][7][8]. However, the working principles of the pressure sensors have been limited to the mentioned methods, which inherently limit the performance improvement.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A novel capacitive micromachined transducer for micro-pressure measurement

Zhao

et al. 2015

2015 Ieee Sensors

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A novel capacitive micromachined transducer is dementrated for micro-pressure measurement. This transducer employs two deflectable diaphragms (the top and middle diaphragms) suspended over a fixed bottom electrode. The two deflectable diaphragms form a mechanical amplifier when a DC bias voltage is applied across them. A change in the deflection of the top diaphragm under the applied pressure is coupled into an amplified deflection change of the middle diaphragm, resulting in a significant resonant frequency shift. Therefore, the transducer can achieve improved pressure sensitivity. The finite element method (FEM) model was established to study the performance. The results show that the pressure sensitivity reaches up to -2.54 ppm/Pa (7.46Hz/Pa) under the bias voltage U bias equal to 95% of the pull-in voltage of the transducer. The nonlinearity error is as low as 1×10 -4 %. A study on the effect of the bias voltage on pressure sensitivity shows the pressure sensitivity increases with the bias voltage. Additionally, as the middle diaphragm is set in vacuum, the air damping effects can be eliminated, thus the transducer performance will be further enhanced. Keywords-Capacitive micromachined transducer; Micro pressure measurement; Michanical amplifier; Resonant frequency shift; FEM modelI.

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“…Design of piezoresistive pressure sensor extensively adopts FEM to realize stress distribution, prediction and sensitivity enhancement. Various researchers have used FEM to analyse the output of the pressure sensor, evaluate its sensitivity and compare the simulation result with the experimental data (Chen et al, 2008;Hosseinpour and Hajihosseini, 2009;Lin et al, 2003;Pancewicz et al, 1999;Yuan et al, 2010). FEM has also been used to study the packaging effects on piezoresistive pressure sensors (Schilling et al, 1997).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Finite element method based absolute pressure sensitivity optimized membrane type double cavity vacuum sealed piezoresistive sensor

et al. 2013

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Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to use finite element method for optimizing the membrane type double cavity vacuum sealed structure for the best achievable sensitivity in a piezoresistive absolute pressure sensor and its validation using a standard complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process. Design/methodology/approach -A double cavity vacuum sealed piezoresistive absolute pressure sensor has been simulated and optimized for its performance and an analytical model describing the behaviour of the sensor has been described. The 1 £ 1 mm sensor chip has two membrane type 100 £ 30 £ 1.7 mm diaphragms consisting of composite layers of plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) of silicon nitride (Si 3 N 4 ) and silicon dioxide (SiO 2 ) each hanging over 21 mm deep rectangular cavity. Potassium hydroxide (KOH) based anisotropic etching of single crystal silicon using front side lateral etching technology is used for the fabrication of the sensor. The electrical readout circuitry uses 318 V boron diffused low pressure vapour chemical vapour deposition (LPCVD) of polysilicon resistors arranged in the Wheatstone half bridge configuration. The sensing structure is simulated and optimized using COMSOL Multiphysics. Findings -Front-side lateral etching technology has been successfully used for the fabrication of double cavity absolute pressure sensor. A good agreement with the fabricated device for the chosen location of the piezoresistors through simulation has been predicted. The measured pressure sensitivity of two tested pressure sensors is 12.63 and 12.46 mV/MPa, and simulated pressure sensitivity is found to be 12.9 mV/MPa for pressure range of 0 to 0.5 MPa. The location of the piezoresistor has also been optimized using the simulation tools for enhancing the sensor sensitivity to 62.14 mV/ MPa. The pressure sensitivity is further enhanced to 92 mV/MPa by increasing the width of the diaphragm to 35 mm. Originality/value -The simulated and measured pressure sensitivities of the double cavity pressure sensor are in close agreement. Sevenfold enhancement in the pressure sensitivity of the optimized sensing structure has been observed. The proposed front-side lateral etching technology can be adopted for making membrane type diaphragms hanging over vacuum sealed micro-cavities for high sensitivity pressure sensing applications.

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Design and optimization of a micro piezoresistive pressure sensor

Cited by 32 publications

References 5 publications

Modelling Fluid Loss Faults in an Industrial Pressure Sensor

Modelling Fluid Loss Faults in an Industrial Pressure Sensor

A novel capacitive micromachined transducer for micro-pressure measurement

Finite element method based absolute pressure sensitivity optimized membrane type double cavity vacuum sealed piezoresistive sensor

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