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Flow Sensor Design and Fabrication

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Saddam Abdullah
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22 views9 pages

Flow Sensor Design and Fabrication

Uploaded by

Saddam Abdullah
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Flow Sensor Design and Fabrication

Thin-film thermistors based on semiconducting films are favorable temperature


sensors for thermal flow sensing. Their advantages are given by the desirable
combination of small size, variability of shape, and high temperature resolution.
Furthermore, they offer high signal levels at low operating currents based on a high
specific resistivity. Thermistors do not need cold junction compensation because their
resistance is a function of the absolute temperature. Semiconductor thermistors are
high resistivity devices, which allows precise resistance measurements based on
power dissipations of the order of 1 µW. For the current application, thermistor
devices are needed that endure power dissipations on the order of 100 µW in spite of
the thermal decoupling from massive heat sinks by being incorporated in a thin
membrane
The flow sensor chips were fabricated according to the process flow illustrated in
:where cleaning and surface activation steps have been omitted

The starting material is a 350 µm thick, <100> p-type, double side polished )1(
silicon wafer with a100mm diameter. The wafer was coated by the vendor with
thermally grown silicon dioxide (SiO2) and LPCVD silicon nitride (Si3N4) featuring
.a thickness of250nmand70nm respectively

Figure 1 silicon wafer setting thickness


Figure 2 silicon wafer 2D

Figure 3 Silicon Wafer 3D

Figure 4 sio2 layer


Figur7 germanium layer deposition and photolithographic 2,3D
Figure 6 Si3n4 Layer Deposition ,2,3D

Next, the heater shapes )3(


are created by a second
lithography, evaporation
of a 130 nm thick
chromium layer, and lift-
off patterning. These
structures are intended for
omparison c
transduction of the
this studied in
on with contributi
.conventional calorimetric transduction treated elsewhere

Figure 8 Chromium Layer Deposition,Photolithographic 2,3D


Photolithographic lift-off techniques are also employed to obtain interdigitated )4(
electrodes for the thermistors as well as connection leads from the heater and the
thermistors to the bonding pads A titanium-gold-chromium sandwich layer featuring
thicknesses of 70-130-50 nm is used for this purpose. The complete thermistors
structure measures 45 µm along the intended direction of flow by 600 µm in the
.perpendicular direction
Figure 9 Ti-Gold Layers 2,3D

Figure 10 Thermal Flow Before Silicon Nitride Cover

Afterwards, )5(
sensor surface
and sensor
elements are
covered with a silicon nitride layer. A low stress silicon nitride (SiNX) protective
film of a thickness of about 1250 nm is applied by means of a low temperature
plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) process (under 200C). The
deposited PECVD silicon nitride exhibits a very low thermal conductivity of
abou1.2WK−1m −1 as compared to 150 WK−1m−1 for silicon [20]. The minimum
thickness of the SiNX layer of the available sensor technology is determined (i) by
mechanical stability considerations and (ii) by sufficient step coverage of the surface
discontinuities introduced by the thin-film structures. The resulting thickness of the
PECVD SiNX layer causes more than the desired heat flow within the membrane.
The high strength of thicker membranes helps them to withstand mechanical loads,
e.g., during the subsequent through-wafer etching process, or for transient flow
studies based on tube shock waves. Using stress-optimized deposition methods for
SiNX facilitates further reduction of the diaphragm thickness, yielding higher flow
.sensitivities and faster response

Figure 11 Thermal Flow Sensor After Silicon Nitride Cover

In )6(
order
to
obtain
access
to the
bond
pads, the protective SiNX film is selectively removed from the front-side using
photolithography and reactive ion etching (RIE). Finally, the chromium is removed
from the bond pad metallization by means of a selective wet-etching process.
An annealing process is applied to assure long term stability of resistivity and NTC
of the amorphous germanium layer, comprising three steps at 100 °C, 130 °C and 150
°C for a few hours each. Next, square apertures are etched into the wafer backside
coating by means of photolithography and reactive ion etching (RIE). The membrane
is then manufactured using a 30%KOH based anisotropic wet etching process (at
75 °C) to remove the bulk silicon from the backside of the wafer. The front side of
the wafer is protected
from the etchant using
a custom-made holder.
The membrane
consisting of silicon
d
ioxide and both silicon nitride layers features an
overall thickness of about 1.57 µm. Finally, dicing
.delivers individual chips of size 3 × 6 × 0.35 mm3
Figure 12 Thermal Flow Sensor After Etching Window 54.7

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