MEMS graphene strain sensor

Graphene is a two dimensional honeycomb structure of sp^2 hybridized carbon atoms that has possibilities in many applications due to its excellent mechanical and electrical properties. One application for Graphene is in the field of sensors. Graphene’s electronic properties do not degrade when it undergoes mechanical strain which is advantageous for strain sensors. In this thesis, certain properties, such as the piezo-resistivity and flexibility, of graphene will be explored to show how they can be utilized to make a strain sensing device. Our original fabrication process of patterning graphene and the transfer process of graphene onto a flexible substrate will be discussed. The development of a stretchable and flexible graphene based rosette strain sensor will also be detailed. Developing a novel, reliable patterning process for the graphene is the first step to manufacture a stretchable graphene based sensor. The graphene was patterned using a photolithography and etching process that was developed by our research team, then it was transferred to a flexible polymer substrate with the use of a combination of soft lithography and wet etching of the Ni foil with ferric chloride solution. Graphene patterning is an essential step in fabricating reliable and sensitive sensors. With this process, graphene can be consistently patterned into different shapes and sizes. To utilize the graphene as the sensing material it also needs to be transferred onto a flexible substrate. The innovative transfer process developed by our research team consistently adheres graphene to a flexible PDMS substrate while removing the original nickel substrate. In the end, the graphene was transferred from the metal substrate to the desired flexible substrate. This process was repeated multiple times to create a stack and multilayer device. While many graphene-based strain sensors have been developed, they are uni-directional and can only measure the strain applied on the sensor in a principle direction. This issue was solved in this thesis by arranging the graphene sensors in a rosette pattern which enabled for multi-directional strain detection. The strain sensor was further improved by stacking the graphene sensors in a rosette pattern; which was possible by leveraging the advantages of soft lithography and bonding processes and the flexibility of graphene. Our final device was a stacked rosette graphene strain sensor that was able to successfully measure strain in multiple directions and magnitudes simultaneously

Integrated sensors for process monitoring and health monitoring in microsystems

This thesis presents the development of integrated sensors for health monitoring in Microsystems, which is an emerging method for early diagnostics of status or “health” of electronic systems and devices under operation based on embedded tests. Thin film meander temperature sensors have been designed with a minimum footprint of 240 m × 250 m. A microsensor array has been used successfully for accurate temperature monitoring of laser assisted polymer bonding for MEMS packaging. Using a frame-shaped beam, the temperature at centre of bottom substrate was obtained to be ~50 ºC lower than that obtained using a top-hat beam. This is highly beneficial for packaging of temperature sensitive MEMS devices. Polymer based surface acoustic wave humidity sensors were designed and successfully fabricated on 128° cut lithium niobate substrates. Based on reflection signals, a sensitivity of 0.26 dB/RH% was achieved between 8.6 %RH and 90.6 %RH. Fabricated piezoresistive pressure sensors have also been hybrid integrated and electrically contacted using a wire bonding method. Integrated sensors based on both LiNbO3 and ZnO/Si substrates are proposed. Integrated sensors were successfully fabricated on a LiNbO3 substrate with a footprint of 13 mm × 12 mm, having multi monitoring functions for simultaneous temperature, measurement of humidity and pressure in the health monitoring applications

Sensitivity improvement to active piezoresistive AFM probes using focused ion beam processing

This paper presents a comprehensive modeling and experimental verification of active piezoresistive atomic force microscopy (AFM) cantilevers, which are the technology enabling high-resolution and high-speed surface measurements. The mechanical structure of the cantilevers integrating Wheatstone piezoresistive was modified with the use of focused ion beam (FIB) technology in order to increase the deflection sensitivity with minimal influence on structure stiness and its resonance frequency. The FIB procedure was conducted based on the finite element modeling (FEM) methods. In order to monitor the increase in deflection sensitivity, the active piezoresistive cantilever was deflected using an actuator integrated within, which ensures reliable and precise assessment of the sensor properties. The proposed procedure led to a 2.5 increase in the deflection sensitivity, which was compared with the results of the calibration routine and analytical calculations

Low-Cost, Water Pressure Sensing and Leakage Detection Using Micromachined Membranes

This work presents the only known SOI membrane approach, using Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) fabrication techniques, to address viable water leakage sensing requirements at low cost. In this research, membrane thickness and diameter are used in concert to target specific stiffness values that will result in targeted operational pressure ranges of approximately 0-120 psi. A MEMS membrane device constructed using silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers, has been tested and packaged for the water environment. MEMS membrane arrays will be used to determine operational pressure range by bursting.Two applications of these SOI membranes in aqueous environment are investigated in this research. The first one is water pressure sensing. We demonstrate that robustness of these membranes depends on their thickness and surface area. Their mechanical strength and robustness against applied pressure are determined using Finite Element Analysis (FEA). The mechanical response of a membrane pressure sensor is determined by physical factors such as surface area, thickness and material properties. The second application of this device is water leak detection. In devices such as pressure sensors, microvalves and micropumps, membranes can be subjected to immense pressure that causes them to fail or burst. However, this event can be used to indicate the precise pressure level that malfunction occurred. These membrane arrays can be used to determine pressure values by bursting. We discuss the background information related to the proposed device: MEMS fabrication processes (especially related to proposed device), common MEMS materials, general micromachining process steps, packaging and wire bonding techniques, and common micromachined pressure sensors. Besides, FEA on SOLIDWORKS simulation module is utilized to understand membrane sensitivity and robustness. In addition, we focus on theories supporting the simulated results. We also discuss the device fabrication process, which consists of the tested device’s fabrication process, Deep Reactive Ion Etching (DRIE) for membrane formation, two different realizable fabrication technique (depending on sensing material) of sensing element, metal contact pads, and connectors deposition. In addition, a brief description and operation procedures of the device fabrication tools are provided as well. We also include detailed electrical and mechanical testing procedures and the collected data

Alternative piezoresistor designs for maximizing cantilever sensitivity.

Over the last 15 years, researchers have explored the use of piezoresistive microcantilevers/resonators as gas sensors because of their relative ease in fabrication, low production cost, and their ability to detect changes in mass or surface stress with fairly good sensitivity. However, existing microcantilever designs rely on irreversible chemical reactions for detection and researchers have been unable to optimize symmetric geometries for increased sensitivity. Previous work by our group showed the capability of T-shaped piezoresistive cantilevers to detect gas composition using a nonreaction-based method – viscous damping. However, this geometry yielded only small changes in resistance. Recently, computational studies performed by our group indicated that optimizing the geometry of the base piezoresistor increases device sensitivity up to 700 times. Thus, the focus of this work is to improve the sensitivity of nonreaction-based piezoresistive microcantilevers by incorporating asymmetric piezoresistive sensing elements in a new array design. A three-mask fabrication process was performed using a 4 silicon-on-insulator wafer. Gold bond pads and leads were patterned using two optical lithography masks, gold sputtering, and acetone lift-off techniques. The cantilevers were patterned with electron-beam lithography and a dry etch masking layer was then deposited via electronbeam evaporation of iron. Subsequently, the silicon device layer was deep reactive ion etched (DRIE) to create the vertical sidewalls and the sacrificial silicon dioxide layer was removed with a buffered oxide etch, completely releasing the cantilever structures. Finally, the device was cleaned and dried with critical point drying to prevent stiction of the devices to the substrate. For the resonance experiments, the cantilevers were driven electrostatically by applying an AC bias, 10 Vpp, to the gate electrode. A DC bias of 10 V was placed across the piezoresistor in series with a 14 kÙ resistor. The drive frequency (0 – 80 kHz) was swept until the cantilever resonated at its natural frequency, which occurred when the output of the lock-in amplifier reached its maximum. These devices have been actuated to resonance under vacuum and their resonant frequencies and Qfactors measured. The first mode of resonance for the asymmetric cantilevers was found to range between 40 kHz and 63 kHz, depending on the piezoresistor geometry and length of the cantilever beam. The redesigned piezoresistive microcantilevers tested yielded static and dynamic sensitivities ranging from 1-6 Ù/Ìm and 2-17 Ù/Ìm displacement, respectively, which are 40 –730 times more sensitive than the best symmetric design previously reported by our group. Furthermore, the Q-factors ranged between 1700 and 4200, typical values for MEMS microcantilevers

Membrane Platforms for Sensors

AbstractIn the past half century the IC technology could produce an unprecedented growth and penetration into all segments of our daily life due to the achieved extreme productivity and reliability by using well established and continuously refined processing platforms. This uninterrupted trend continued also with the advent of the More than Moore-type MEMS technology allowing the combination of the signal processing capability of the mature IC technology with the exploitation of mechanical, thermal, optical properties of the materials used in IC technology in different sensing and actuation purposes. Mass producibility by monolithic integration required here also the development of appropriate unified set of techniques for the various applications, i.e. sort of standardised platforms to explore.In this paper we focus on the development of bulk micromachined membrane platforms, being exploited in such applications. At the same time this summary also offers a “case study”, a retrospective review of the development of integrable sensors from pressure measurement to nanopore-type, label-free biosensing at the Institute of Technical Physics & Materials Science - MFA, Budapest