A new MEMS-based piezoresistive micro-displacement sensor with high resolution

This paper describes a miniature MEMS-based piezoresistive displacement sensor with micrometric range and nanometric resolution. This kind of sensor should be integrated in a precision positioning mechanism (PPM) able to make accurate micro/nano-positioning tasks. We firstly provide a overview of the MEMS-based piezoresistive sensor principle. The theoretical modeling, dimension analysis and stress simulation of the sensor are carried out subsequently. Furthermore, the geometrical parameters of piezoresistance are designed and the main MEMS process of the sensor is developed. Finally, the experimental results are very good and the mini-sensor is able to measure a displacement with a 5 nm resolution over a 10mum range.