MOEMS based ultrasensitive micro displacement sensors for the membrane applications

Photonic crystal technology is pervading in many new areas of detection and measurements of physical parameters like pressure, temperature, strain, displacement etc in sensors, both at design and device level. Their miniaturization has offered extreme efficiency and superior selectivity making photonic sensors most preferred choice for versatile application. The membrane structure deformations by slightest pressure inputs generates thrusts in extensive manifolds along longitudinal and lateral sides of the surfaces. Their transitions are inter-converted into electrical and optical responses. A two-dimensional photonic crystal giving high sensitivity is selected and designed on silicon with substrate as rigid smooth plane on which large tentacles of many silicon rods tend to manifest as perforated membrane structure. We have proposed a design and simulated a sensor for detecting acoustic signals on silicon-based substrate with such application of sensing displacement/pressure in submicron range. The behaviour of the sensor designed in this paper can measure the pressure applied in two directions fully lateral as a sensor and as transducer behaviour with both lateral and longitudinal forces. A linear calibration curve is obtained relating the drop position to the applied pressure as a resonant cavity. No sooner than a displacement is changed in the sub-micron level, does the intensity level changes due to change in effective refractive indices.