Title :
Charge-Controlled Readout and BIST Circuit for MEMS Sensors
Author :
Basith, Iftekhar Ibne ; Kandalaft, Nabeeh ; Rashidzadeh, R. ; Ahmadi, Mahdi
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Univ. of Windsor, Windsor, ON, Canada
Abstract :
In this paper, we present a new readout circuit with an integrated built-in self-test (BIST) structure for capacitive microelectromechanical system (MEMS). In the proposed solution, instead of commonly used voltage control signals to test the device, charge-controlled stimuli are employed to cover a wider range of structural defects. The proposed test solution eliminates the risk of structural collapse in the test phase for gap-varying parallel-plate MEMS devices. Measurement results using a prototype fabricated in TSMC 65-nm CMOS technology indicate that the proposed BIST scheme can successfully detect minor structural defects altering MEMS nominal capacitance.
Keywords :
CMOS integrated circuits; built-in self test; capacitive sensors; microsensors; readout electronics; BIST circuit; CMOS technology; MEMS nominal capacitance; MEMS sensors; built-in self-test; capacitive microelectromechanical system; charge controlled readout; parallel plate MEMS devices; readout circuit; size 65 nm; structural collapse; structural defects; Built-in self-test; Calibration; Capacitance; Capacitors; Delay; Delay lines; Micromechanical devices; Built-in self-test (BIST); microelectromechanical system (MEMS); ring oscillator; time-to-digital converter (TDC);
Journal_Title :
Computer-Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems, IEEE Transactions on
DOI :
10.1109/TCAD.2012.2218602
