scholarly journals A Thermopile Device with Subwavelength Structure by CMOS-MEMS Technology

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (23) ◽  
pp. 5118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chih-Hsiung Shen ◽  
Yun-Ying Yeh ◽  
Chi-Feng Chen

Besides the application of the photonic crystal for the photodetector in the visible range, the infrared devices proposed with subwavelength structure are numerically and experimentally investigated thoroughly for infrared radiation sensing in this research. Several complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) compatible thermopiles with subwavelength structure (SWS) are proposed and simulated by the FDTD method. The proposed thermopiles are fabricated by the 0.35 μm 2P4M CMOS-MEMS process in TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company). The measurement and simulation results show that the response of these devices with SWS is higher than for those without SWS. The trend of the measurement results is consistent with that of the simulation results. Obviously, the absorption efficiency of the CMOS compatible thermopile can be enhanced when the subwavelength structure exists.

Sensors ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (11) ◽  
pp. 3218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chi-Feng Chen ◽  
Chih-Hsiung Shen ◽  
Yun-Ying Yeh

The enhanced infrared absorbance (IRA) of the complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) compatible thermopile with the subwavelength rectangular-hole arrays in active area is investigated. The finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method considered and analyzed the matrix arrangement (MA) and staggered arrangement (SA) of subwavelength rectangular-hole arrays (SRHA). For the better cases of MA-SRHA and SA-SRHA, the geometric parameters are the same and the infrared absorption efficiency (IAE) of the SA type is better than that of the MA type by about 19.4% at target temperature of 60 °C. Three proposed thermopiles with SA-SRHA are manufactured based on the 0.35 μm 2P4M CMOS-MEMS process. The measurement results are similar to the simulation results. The IAE of the best simulation case of SA-SRHA is up to 3.3 times higher than that without structure at the target temperature of 60 °C. Obviously, the staggered rectangular-hole arrays with more appropriate geometric conditions obtained from FDTD simulation can excellently enhance the IRA of the CMOS compatible thermopile.


Sensors ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 180
Author(s):  
Chi-Feng Chen ◽  
Chih-Hsiung Shen ◽  
Yun-Ying Yeh

A thermopile device with sub-wavelength hole array (SHA) is numerically and experimentally investigated. The infrared absorbance (IRA) effect of SHAs in active area of the thermopile device is clearly analyzed by the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. The prototypes are manufactured by the 0.35 μm 2P4M complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor micro-electro-mechanical-systems (CMOS-MEMS) process in Taiwan semiconductor manufacturing company (TSMC). The measurement results of those prototypes are similar to their simulation results. Based on the simulation technology, more sub-wavelength hole structural effects for IRA of such thermopile device are discussed. It is found from simulation results that the results of SHAs arranged in a hexagonal shape are significantly better than the results of SHAs arranged in a square and the infrared absorption efficiencies (IAEs) of specific asymmetric rectangle and elliptical hole structure arrays are higher than the relatively symmetric square and circular hole structure arrays. The overall best results are respectively up to 3.532 and 3.573 times higher than that without sub-wavelength structure at the target temperature of 60 °C when the minimum structure line width limit of the process is ignored. Obviously, the IRA can be enhanced when the SHAs are considered in active area of the thermopile device and the structural optimization of the SHAs is absolutely necessary.


Micromachines ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hasan Göktaş

Microbolometers and photon detectors are two main technologies to address the needs in Infrared Sensing applications. While the microbolometers in both complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) and Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) technology offer many advantages over photon detectors, they still suffer from nonlinearity and relatively low temperature sensitivity. This paper not only offers a reliable solution to solve the nonlinearity problem but also demonstrate a noticeable potential to build ultra-sensitive CMOS–MEMS temperature sensor for infrared (IR) sensing applications. The possibility of a 31× improvement in the total absolute frequency shift with respect to ambient temperature change is verified via both COMSOL (multiphysics solver) and theory. Nonlinearity problem is resolved by an operating temperature sensor around the beam bending point. The effect of both pull-in force and dimensional change is analyzed in depth, and a drastic increase in performance is achieved when the applied pull-in force between adjacent beams is kept as small as possible. The optimum structure is derived with a length of 57 µm and a thickness of 1 µm while avoiding critical temperature and, consequently, device failure. Moreover, a good match between theory and COMSOL is demonstrated, and this can be used as a guidance to build state-of-the-art designs.


Crystals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 630
Author(s):  
Alfredo A. González-Fernández ◽  
Mariano Aceves-Mijares ◽  
Oscar Pérez-Díaz ◽  
Joaquin Hernández-Betanzos ◽  
Carlos Domínguez

The historical bottleneck for truly high scale integrated photonics is the light emitter. The lack of monolithically integrable light sources increases costs and reduces scalability. Quantum phenomena found in embedded Si particles in the nanometer scale is a way of overcoming the limitations for bulk Si to emit light. Integrable light sources based in Si nanoparticles can be obtained by different CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) -compatible materials and techniques. Such materials in combination with Si3N4 photonic elements allow for integrated Si photonics, in which photodetectors can also be included directly in standard Si wafers, taking advantage of the emission in the visible range by the embedded Si nanocrystals/nanoparticles. We present the advances and perspectives on seamless monolithic integration of CMOS-compatible visible light emitters, photonic elements, and photodetectors, which are shown to be viable and promising well within the technological limits imposed by standard fabrication methods.


Author(s):  
Widianto Widianto ◽  
Lailis Syafaah ◽  
Nurhadi Nurhadi

In this paper, effects of process variations in a HCMOS (High-Speed Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) IC (Integrated Circuit) are examined using a Monte Carlo SPICE (Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis) simulation. The variations of the IC are L and VTO variations. An evaluation method is used to evaluate the effects of the variations by modeling it using a normal (Gaussian) distribution. The simulation results show that the IC may be detected as a defective IC caused by the variations based on large supply currents flow to it. 


Nanomaterials ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 2454
Author(s):  
Yi-Kuang Yen ◽  
Chao-Yu Lai

Detecting the concentration of Pb2+ ions is important for monitoring the quality of water due to it can become a health threat as being in certain level. In this study, we report a nanomechanical Pb2+ sensor by employing the complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor microelectromechanical system (CMOS MEMS)-based piezoresistive microcantilevers coated with PEDOT:PSS sensing layers. Upon reaction with Pb2+, the PEDOT:PSS layer was oxidized which induced the surface stress change resulted in a subsequent bending of the microcantilever with the signal response of relative resistance change. This sensing platform has the advantages of being mass-produced, miniaturized, and portable. The sensor exhibited its sensitivity to Pb2+ concentrations in a linear range of 0.01–1000 ppm, and the limit of detection was 5 ppb. Moreover, the sensor showed the specificity to Pb2+, required a small sample volume and was easy to operate. Therefore, the proposed analytical method described here may be a sensitive, cost-effective and portable sensing tool for on-site water quality measurement and pollution detection.


Micromachines ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei-Chun Shen ◽  
Po-Jen Shih ◽  
Yao-Chuan Tsai ◽  
Cheng-Chih Hsu ◽  
Ching-Liang Dai

This study describes the fabrication of an ammonia gas sensor (AGS) using a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS)–microelectromechanical system (MEMS) technique. The structure of the AGS features interdigitated electrodes (IDEs) and a sensing material on a silicon substrate. The IDEs are the stacked aluminum layers that are made using the CMOS process. The sensing material; polypyrrole/reduced graphene oxide (PPy/RGO), is synthesized using the oxidation–reduction method; and the material is characterized using an electron spectroscope for chemical analysis (ESCA), a scanning electron microscope (SEM), and high-resolution X-ray diffraction (XRD). After the CMOS process; the AGS needs post-processing to etch an oxide layer and to deposit the sensing material. The resistance of the AGS changes when it is exposed to ammonia. A non-inverting amplifier circuit converts the resistance of the AGS into a voltage signal. The AGS operates at room temperature. Experiments show that the AGS response is 4.5% at a concentration of 1 ppm NH3; and it exhibits good repeatability. The lowest concentration that the AGS can detect is 0.1 ppm NH3


Micromachines ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 792
Author(s):  
Chiu ◽  
Liu ◽  
Hong

This paper presents the design, fabrication, and characterization of an inductive complementary metal oxide semiconductor micro-electromechanical systems (CMOS-MEMS) accelerometer with on-chip digital output based on LC oscillators. While most MEMS accelerometers employ capacitive detection schemes, the proposed inductive detection scheme is less susceptible to the stress-induced structural curling and deformation that are commonly seen in CMOS-MEMS devices. Oscillator-based frequency readout does not need analog to digital conversion and thus can simplify the overall system design. In this paper, a high-Q CMOS inductor was connected in series with the low-Q MEMS sensing inductor to improve its quality factor. Measurement results showed the proposed device had an offset frequency of 85.5 MHz, sensitivity of 41.6 kHz/g, noise floor of 8.2 mg/Hz, bias instability of 0.94 kHz (11 ppm) at an average time of 2.16 s, and nonlinearity of 1.5% full-scale.


2013 ◽  
Vol 64 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nor Hafizah Ngajikin ◽  
Low Yee Ling ◽  
Nur Izzati Ismail ◽  
Abu Sahmah Mohd Supaát ◽  
Mohd Haniff Ibrahim ◽  
...  

Integration of Complimentary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS) and Microelectromechanical System (MEMS) technology in Fabry Perot blood pressure sensor (FPPS) fabrication processes is presented. The sensor that comprises of a 125 µm diameter of circular diaphragm is modeled to be fabricated using integration of CMOS-MEMS technology. To improve the sensor reliability, a sleeve structure is designed at the back of Silicon wafer by using MEMS Deep Reactive ion Etching (DRIE) process for fiber insertion, which offers a large bonding area. Optical light source at 550 nm wavelength is chosen for this device. The sensor diaphragm mechanic deflection and its optical spectrum is theoretically analyzed and simulated. The analytical results show high linear response in the range of 0 to 40 kPa and a reasonable sensitivity of 1.83 nm/kPa (spectrum shift/pressure) has been obtained for this sensor. The proposed integration of CMOS-MEMS technology limit the material selection yet produces an economical method of FPPS fabrication and integrated system.  


Micromachines ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shu-Jung Chen ◽  
Yung-Chuan Wu

This paper introduces a thermoelectric-type sensor with a built-in heater as an alternative approach to the measurement of vacuum pressure based on frequency modulation. The proposed sensor is fabricated using the TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Hsinchu, Taiwan) 0.35 μm complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor-microelectro-mechanical systems (CMOS–MEMS) process with thermocouples positioned central-symmetrically. The proposed frequency modulation technique involves locking the sensor output signal at a given frequency using a phase-lock-loop (PLL) amplifier to increase the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and thereby enhance the sensitivity of vacuum measurements. An improved first harmonic signal detection based on asymmetrical applied heating gives a precise measurement. Following calibration, the output voltage is in good agreement with the calibration values, resulting in an error of 0.25% under pressures between 0.1–10 Torr.


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