Electro-thermal simulations and modelling of micromachined gas sensor

Author

Demirci, T. ; Guney, D. ; Bozkurt, A. ; Gurbuz, Y.

Author_Institution

Fac. of Eng. & Natural Sci., Sabanci Univ., Istanbul, Turkey

fYear

2001

fDate

2001

Firstpage

99

Lastpage

102

Abstract

The reliability of the membrane structure for micromachined-gas sensors is one of the main concerns in MEMS technology. The major source of this problem is the stress on the membrane. In this study, the use of SiO₂/Si₃N₄/SiO₂ stacked layers with optimized dimensions was found to reduce the stress on the membrane, and hence improve the reliability. We have also used electro-thermal simulations with finite element analysis (FEA) to model the structural properties of the membrane in order to reduce the stress. The appropriate selection of materials and dimensions yielded maximum active area temperature of 530°C at the center of the membrane with a polysilicon heater element, less than 5 V supply voltage, 40 mW of power consumption, membrane edge temperature of 177°C and acceptable mechanical stress of 0.097 GPa. Upon realizing the structure with the modeled parameters, micromachined-gas sensors could respond to many industry/environment application demands

Keywords

finite element analysis; gas sensors; heating elements; internal stresses; membranes; micromachining; microsensors; semiconductor device models; semiconductor device reliability; silicon compounds; stress analysis; 177 C; 40 mW; 530 C; FEA; MEMS technology; Si; SiO₂-Si₃N₄-SiO₂; SiO₂/Si₃N₄/SiO₂ stacked layers; acceptable mechanical stress; electro-thermal simulations; environment application demands; finite element analysis; industry application demands; maximum active area temperature; membrane edge temperature; membrane stress; membrane structural properties; micromachined gas sensor; modelling; polysilicon heater element; power consumption; reliability; supply voltage; Analytical models; Biomembranes; Electricity supply industry; Energy consumption; Finite element methods; Mechanical sensors; Micromechanical devices; Stress; Temperature sensors; Voltage;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Microelectromechanical Systems Conference, 2001

Conference_Location

Berkeley, CA

Print_ISBN

0-7803-7224-7

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/MEMSC.2001.992752

Filename

992752