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Explain The Capacitive Pressure Sensors and Its Types

Capacitive pressure sensors are utilized in various applications such as automotive systems and medical diagnostics, offering advantages like greater pressure sensitivity and lower power consumption compared to piezoresistive sensors. The design typically involves a membrane made of doped silicon that detects pressure differentials, often requiring two pressure ports, while absolute pressure sensors integrate a reference pressure. The manufacturing process involves microfabrication techniques to achieve uniform membrane thickness and precise electrical contacts.

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28 views2 pages

Explain The Capacitive Pressure Sensors and Its Types

Capacitive pressure sensors are utilized in various applications such as automotive systems and medical diagnostics, offering advantages like greater pressure sensitivity and lower power consumption compared to piezoresistive sensors. The design typically involves a membrane made of doped silicon that detects pressure differentials, often requiring two pressure ports, while absolute pressure sensors integrate a reference pressure. The manufacturing process involves microfabrication techniques to achieve uniform membrane thickness and precise electrical contacts.

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syed1188
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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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Explain the Capacitive Pressure sensors and its types.

Pressure sensors are widely used in automotive systems, industrial process control, medical
diagnostics and monitoring, and environmental monitoring.

The membrane thickness is a primary factor in determining the pressure sensor sensitivity.
MEMS technology allows membranes to be very thin compared to what can be achieved with
conventional machining.

The uniformity of membrane thickness is very good using microfabrication. Pressure sensors
based on piezoresistive sensing elements are the most popular however, ones based on capacitive sensing
is also used rather widely.

Membrane-based pressure sensors are ideally suited for parallel capacitive sensing. Capacitive
pressure sensors offer the advantages of greater pressure sensitivity, lower temperature sensitivity, and
reduced power consumption compared with piezoresistive pressure sensors. Piezoresistive pressure
sensors, discussed

Parallel-Plate Pressure Sensor

A membrane pressure sensor can detect pressure differential across the membrane. Two pressure
ports are typically required. To simplify the pressure sensor design and use, absolute pressure sensors are
often desirable. In such sensors, the reference pressure at one side of the membrane is integrated. One
popular choice is to provide a zero pressure reference (vacuum) by hermetic sealing.

The sensor cross section is shown in fig. A membrane made of doped silicon serves as the
pressure sensing element and one electrode.

The electrode consists of patterned metal thin film on the bottom substrate (made of glass in this
case). A fabrication process was developed where the micromachined silicon membrane was transferred
to a glass substrate. The process begins with a (100) silicon wafer (Figure 4.10, step a). An oxide mask is
deposited and patterned (step b), serving as a chemical barrier during a wet anisotropic etching of silicon
(using KOH solutions) (step c). A -deep recessed region is created with the slopes being [33] surfaces
(step d). Another layer of oxide is grown, this time as a conformal coating.

A boron diffusion step at is conducted (step g), to form doped regions as thick as This is followed
by the stripping of the oxide, and growth and patterning of yet another oxide layer (step h). The second
oxide layer is used in a subsequent boron diffusion step to define a doped region which becomes the
thickness of the membrane diaphragm (step i). A layer of silicon oxide is deposited and patterned, to form
a dielectric insulation (step j).

The researchers patterned via holes in the oxide, which allow a subsequently deposited
polysilicon to contact the boron doped region and provide electrical contact with the membrane later (step
k). A short diffusion session (at ) is performed to dope the polysilicon; this is followed by a chemical
mechanical polishing (CMP) step to increase the top surface smoothness. The polishing step enhances the
yield of the sealing step later.

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