In-process parameter calibration of thermoelectrical flow sensors with monolithic integrated channel

A time consuming and expensive part of sensor fabrication, especially for flow sensors, is the calibration of each fabricated sensor. This is necessary because of inaccuracy in sensor fabrication and assembly. With the help of an analytical model containing some important sensor parameters, which are obtained in-process during the fabrication, we show that it is possible to calibrate the sensor with respect to the flow rate within a deviation of μ5% for thermoelectrical flow sensors with monolithic integrated channels. An expensive single sensor calibration is thereby prevented. The model based calibration is possible due to the accurate acquisition of geometries of the monolithic integrated channel design compared e.g. to attaching a channel formed by injection molding. Solving technological issues will increase the accuracy of resulting calibrated systems.