An ASIC for readout of post-processed thin-film MEMS resonators by employing capacitive interfacing and active parasitic cancellation

Author

Huang, Liwen ; Rieutort-Louis, Warren ; Gualdino, Alexandra ; Teagno, Laura ; Hu, Ya ; Mouro, Joao ; Sanz-Robinson, Josue ; Sturm, James C. ; Wagner, Steffen ; Chu, Virginia ; Conde, JoaÌƒo Pedro ; Verma, Naveen

Author_Institution

Princeton Univ., Princeton, NJ, USA

fYear

2014

fDate

10-13 June 2014

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

2

Abstract

Thin-film MEMS bridges as micro-resonators have proven attractive for various sensing applications (acceleration, mass, chemical, pressure, etc.) by using frequency shift as a basis for sensing [1]. Low-temperature processing of amorphous-silicon (a-Si:H) enables low-cost fabrication of high-Q MEMS bridges having excellent compatibility with CMOS post processing. However, the a-Si:H bridges have weak motional conductances [2]. Parasitic feed-through capacitances, both due to the device structure and routing, can easily drown out the resonant behavior. This paper proposes a non-contact MEMS interfacing and readout system in standard CMOS which enables robust integration while substantially rejecting the effects of parasitic feed-through capacitance.

Keywords

CMOS integrated circuits; application specific integrated circuits; capacitance; elemental semiconductors; hydrogen; micromechanical resonators; microsensors; readout electronics; silicon; thin film sensors; ASIC; Si:H; active parasitic cancellation; capacitive interfacing; microresonators; noncontact MEMS interfacing; parasitic feed-through capacitances; post-processed thin-film MEMS resonators; readout system; standard CMOS; Bridge circuits; CMOS integrated circuits; Capacitors; Micromechanical devices; Resonant frequency; Sensors;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

VLSI Circuits Digest of Technical Papers, 2014 Symposium on

Conference_Location

Honolulu, HI

Print_ISBN

978-1-4799-3327-3

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/VLSIC.2014.6858442

Filename

6858442