A Novel Composite Sensor for UHF Partial Discharge and Gas State Measurement in GIS

The gas state of the insulating gas significantly impacts the development and extent of the partial discharge (PD) in gas-insulated switchgear (GIS). Correlating these two factors allows for a more comprehensive diagnosis of insulation defects. At present, the ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) method has been widely used for PD detection in GIS....

Simulation for stability of a beam-mass based high-resolution MEMS gravimeter

In this paper, stability and mechanistic simulations for a four-beam-mass-based MEMS gravimeter were conducted, and guidelines for the gravimeter design were proposed. Based on a prototyped MEMS device, the nonlinear finite element model was validated first against the experimental results. Then, we demonstrated three different scenarios in...

Sub-Orbital Flight Demonstration of a 183/540–600 GHz Hybrid CMOS-InP and CMOS-Schottky-MEMS Limb-Sounder

This paper presents an overview of a sub-orbital flight demonstration with a 183 GHz and 540–600 GHz limb-sounding instrument aboard a stratospheric ballooncraft. The 183 GHz band provides soundings of stratospheric H 2 O and is implemented with a hybrid CMOS-InP receiver architecture which provides excellent sensitivity while remaining compact ...

Surface-micromachined Silicon Carbide Pirani Gauges for Harsh Environments

The application of pressure sensors in harsh environments is typically hindered by the stability of the material over long periods of time. This work focuses on the design and fabrication of surface micromachined Pirani gauges which are designed to be compatible with state-of-the-art Silicon Carbide CMOS technology. Such an integrated...

Low temperature sintering of copper nanoparticles: Mechanism and die attach application

Power electronics demand miniaturization, integration, higher electrical and ther-mal conductivities. However, the traditional electronic packaging materials and technology have limitations to meet these requirements. Conventional lead-free die attach materials, like Sn-Ag-Cu solders, can not satisfy high power electronics application, due to...

Toward a Self-Sensing Piezoresistive Pressure Sensor for all-SiC Monolithic Integration

This work focusses on the design and fabrication of surface micromachined pressure sensors, designed in a modular way for the integration with analog front-end read-out electronics. Polycrystalline 3C silicon carbide (SiC) was used to fabricate free-standing high topography cavities exploiting surface micromaching. The poly-SiC was in-situ...

Low power AlGaN/GaN MEMS pressure sensor for high vacuum application

A micro-scale pressure sensor based on suspended AlGaN/GaN heterostructure is reported with non-linear sensitivity. By sealing the cavity, vacuum sensing at various temperatures was demonstrated. To validate the proposed concept of the AlGaN/GaN vacuum sensor, a 700 µm diameter circular membrane was electrically characterized under applied...

Maintaining transparency of a heated MEMs membrane for enabling long-term optical measurements on soot-containing exhaust gas

Ensuring optical transparency over a wide spectral range of a window with a view into the tailpipe of the combustion engine, while it is exposed to the harsh environment of sootcontaining exhaust gas, is an essential pre-requisite for introducing optical techniques for long-term monitoring of automotive emissions. Therefore, a regenerable...

A Low-Power MEMS IDE Capacitor with Integrated Microhotplate: Application as Methanol Sensor using a Metal-Organic Framework Coating as Affinity Layer

Capacitors made of interdigitated electrodes (IDEs) as a transducer platform for the sensing of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have advantages due to their lower power operation and fabrication using standard micro-fabrication techniques. Integrating a micro-electromechanical system (MEMS), such as a microhotplate with IDE capacitor,...

MEMS enabled fast time-resolved X-ray diffraction characterization platform for copper nanoparticle sintering in heterogeneous integration applications

We report the design, fabrication and experimental investigation of a MEMS micro-hotplate (MHP) for fast time-resolved X-ray diffraction (TRXRD) study of Cu nanoparticle paste (nanoCu paste) sintering process. The device and its system are designed to have a 60 ms minimum time interval, uniform temperature distribution and variant gas...

Non-linear bulk micromachined accelerometer for high sensitivity applications

This work describes the design, modelling and realisation of the mechanical part of a non-linear MEMS accelerometer intended for large displacement behaviour. For this, a mass/spring system was designed with an extremely low resonance frequency. In this work the mechanical behaviour was verified by measurements done using an optical setup,...

High aspect ratio spiral resonators for process variation investigation and MEMS applications

In this work a method is described to investigate process variations across a wafer. Through wafer MEMS spiral resonators were designed, simulated, fabricated and characterized by measuring the eigenfrequency and corresponding mode shapes. Measuring the eigenfrequency and resulting spectral behavior of resonators on different locations on the...

Challenges in the Assembly and Handling of Thin Film Capped MEMS Devices

This paper discusses the assembly challenges considering the design and manufacturability of a Wafer Level Thin Film Package in MEMS applications. The assembly processes are discussed. The loads associated with these processes are illustrated and evaluated. Numerical calculations are combined with experimental observations in order to estimate...