Design, fabrication and characterisation of silicon carbide resonators

Micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) are integrated mechanical and electrical elements realised with micro-fabrication technology and employed as sensors and actuators. The integration of reliable MEMS switches and resonators into transceiver devices is a challenging and attractive solution to increase the efficiency and reduce the power consumption. Silicon carbide (SiC) is an excellent candidate for developing robust and reliable high frequency MEMS for transceivers applications due to its unique mechanical properties.This thesis presents the design, fabrication and characterisation of 3C-SiC micromechanical vertical resonators. New device architectures have been developed for the study of the electro-mechanical behaviour of the devices with the aim of optimising the actuation efficiency, increasing the resonant frequency and obtaining new device functions.A process for the fabrication of single or poly-crystalline 3C-SiC cantilevers, bridges and rings has been developed with the option of integrating top electrodes made of aluminium (Al) or lead zirconium titanate (PZT). The crystal structure and quality of the SiC layers have been evaluated with X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. A Young's Modulus of ~ 440 GPa has been calculated for the single crystalline SiC from the mechanical resonant frequency of the fabricated single material cantilevers. The fabricated Al/SiC bridges and rings have been actuated and driven into resonance electro-thermally. It has been found that wide Al electrodes applied close to the beams' anchor can maximise the induced displacement and vibration amplitude thus improving the actuation efficiency. Resonant frequencies in the MHz range have been obtained with the ring architectures therefore achieving higher frequencies compared to beam architectures. In addition, electro-thermal mixing of two input frequencies has been demonstrated and performed with the fabricated Al/SiC structures. Furthermore, piezo-electric transduction has been used for actuating the PZT/SiC cantilevers and for sensing the devices' resonance electrically. The design of the PZT piezo-electric active layer has been shown to influence strongly the devices' resonant frequency and has been optimised to enhance the electrical output by decreasing the electrodes length thus decreasing the feedthrough capacitance.The results obtained in this work can be used for the implementation of SiC MEMS mixer-filters with electro-thermal actuation and piezo-electric sensing for transceiver applications

A MEMS Filter Based on Ring Resonator with Electrothermal Actuation and Piezoelectric Sensing

AbstractWe report on the design of a two-port ring microelectromechanical (MEMS) resonator with electrothermal actuation and piezoelectric sensing for filtering applications. The ring resonator has been fabricated in silicon carbide with top platinum electrothermal actuator and lead zirconium titanate piezoelectric sensor. The transmission frequency response measurements have shown that the device with a ring radius of 200μm resonate in the frequency range 0.4MHz – 0.6MHz, in the presence of tuning. By applying DC bias voltage in the range 4V – 10V, a frequency tuning range of 330,000ppm has been achieved

PDMS-ZnO Piezoelectric Nanocomposites for Pressure Sensors

The addition of piezoelectric zinc oxide (ZnO) fillers into a flexible polymer matrix has emerged as potential piezocomposite materials that can be used for applications such as energy harvesters and pressure sensors. A simple approach for the fabrication of PDMS-ZnO piezoelectric nanocomposites based on two ZnO fillers: nanoparticles (NP) and nanoflowers (NF) is presented in this paper. The effect of the ZnO fillers’ geometry and size on the thermal, mechanical and piezoelectric properties is discussed. The sensors were fabricated in a sandwich-like structure using aluminium (Al) thin films as top and bottom electrodes. Piezocomposites at a concentration of 10% w/w showed good flexibility, generating a piezoelectric response under compression force. The NF piezocomposites showed the highest piezoelectric response compared to the NP piezocomposites due to their geometric connectivity. The piezoelectric compound NF generated 4.2 V while the NP generated 1.86 V under around 36 kPa pressure. The data also show that the generated voltage increases with increasing applied force regardless of the type of filler

Zinc oxide nanowires-based flexible pressure sensor

Abstract Embedding piezoelectric nanowires within a soft elastomer material should provide a superior pressure sensing transducer, exploiting the piezoelectric properties of the nanowire material while maintaining flexibility. Here, a flexible sensor has been fabricated on a Kapton substrate and has incorporated a layer of polydimethylsiloxane with embedded zinc oxide nanowires as the pressure sensing mechanism. In response to applied compressive pressure up to 127 kPa, the device has generated a voltage, between electrodes on either side of the nanowire/polydimethylsiloxane layer, with a sensitivity of 23.6 mV/kPa, which is 100 times greater than previously reported zinc oxide nanostructure‐based flexible sensors