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...

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,...

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...

From Silicon toward Silicon Carbide Smart Integrated Sensors

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...

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...