학술논문

Miniaturised Thermal Flow Sensors for Rough Environments
Document Type
Conference
Source
19th IEEE International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems Micro Electro Mechanical Systems, 2006. MEMS 2006 Istanbul. 19th IEEE International Conference on. :582-585 2006
Subject
Components, Circuits, Devices and Systems
Engineered Materials, Dielectrics and Plasmas
Thermal sensors
Sensor phenomena and characterization
Biomembranes
Fabrication
Polymers
Thermoelectricity
Thermal stability
Silicon compounds
Passivation
Fluid dynamics
Language
ISSN
1084-6999
Abstract
Two concepts of miniaturised thermoelectric flow sensors for rough pressurized environments are presented, based on our high-temperature thermopile fabrication process. Membrane based thermal flow sensors show high sensitivity and stability against aggressive fluids using a LPCVD silicon nitride (SiN) passivation layer but are weak against high pressure. We realised pressure stable sensors using either quartz as substrate or by stabilising the membrane using polymers. The sensors have been fabricated and characterised. The sensors with the polymer stabilised membrane show good sensitivity and dynamic behaviour while the quartz based sensors have superior stability towards pressure and aggressive media. In comparison the quartz based sensors have a far less complex fabrication process than those with a stabilised membrane.