DocumentCode :
1561234
Title :
A threshold pressure switch utilizing plastic deformation of silicon
Author :
Huff, M.A. ; Nikolich, A.D. ; Schmidt, M.A.
Author_Institution :
Microsyst. Technol. Lab., MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA
fYear :
1991
Firstpage :
177
Lastpage :
180
Abstract :
The authors report on the design, fabrication, and testing of a threshold pressure switch with mechanical hysteresis. The expansion of trapped gas in a sealed cavity formed by wafer bonding is used to plastically deform a thin silicon membrane bonded over the cavity, creating a spherically shaped cap. This deformed cap exhibits mechanical hysteresis in its deflection versus pressure characteristics at the point of buckling. It is this buckling phenomenon which is used to produce the hysteresis in the pressure switch. The authors describe the fabrication and testing of devices as well as a model to predict the onset of plastic deformation in these structures. They have tested the threshold pressure switch and found that it exhibits approximately 2 psi of hysteresis. Possible applications for this threshold pressure switch are tire pressure monitoring, tactile sensor arrays, keyboards, and scales.<>
Keywords :
buckling; elastic hysteresis; elemental semiconductors; membranes; micromechanical devices; pressure measurement; pressure transducers; semiconductor switches; semiconductor technology; silicon; 2 psi; buckling; deflection; deformed cap; expansion; fabrication; keyboards; mechanical hysteresis; membrane; model; plastic deformation; scales; sealed cavity; spherically shaped cap; tactile sensor arrays; testing; threshold pressure switch; tire pressure monitoring; trapped gas; Biomembranes; Deformable models; Fabrication; Hysteresis; Plastics; Sensor arrays; Silicon; Switches; Testing; Wafer bonding;
fLanguage :
English
Publisher :
ieee
Conference_Titel :
Solid-State Sensors and Actuators, 1991. Digest of Technical Papers, TRANSDUCERS '91., 1991 International Conference on
Conference_Location :
San Francisco, CA, USA
Print_ISBN :
0-87942-585-7
Type :
conf
DOI :
10.1109/SENSOR.1991.148831
Filename :
148831
Link To Document :
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