Microsensors

Outline

■ Sensor & microsensor

■ Force and pressure microsensors
■ Position and speed microsensors
■ Acceleration microsensors
■ Chemical microsensors
■ Biosensors
■ Temperature sensors
 A sensor converts a physical phenomenon into a measurable analog voltage (or sometimes a digital signal) converted into a human-readable display or transmitted for
reading or further processing.

Sensor

■ Device that converts a non-electrical physical

or chemical quantity into an electrical signal

Sensor Processor Display

Measurand Output signal
Classification of sensors

■ In the course book

classification is based on
the function that the sensor
performs
✦ pressure
✦ position
✦ acceleration
✦ etc.
 Sensor market

■ Pressure 40 %
■ Temperature 25 %
■ Acceleration 13 %
■ Flow 9 %
■ Force 5 %
 Trends in sensor technology

■ Miniaturization
■ Integration (sensor, signal processing and actuator)
✦ sensor with signal processing circuits for linearising sensor output, etc.
✦ sensor with built-in actuator for automatic calibration, change of
sensitivity etc.
■ Sensor arrays
A sensor array is a group of sensors, usually deployed in a
✦ one-function units (to improve reliability) certain geometry pattern, used for collecting and processing
electromagnetic or acoustic signals.
✦ multiple-function units
 Microsensors

■ 1995 global sensor market 6 billion $US, 25 % from

MEMS based devices
■ Annual increase in the market volume 20%
■ Why microsensors
✦ lower manufacturing cost (mass-production, less materials)
✦ wider exploitation of IC technology (integration)
✦ wider applicability to sensor arrays
✦ lower weight (greater portability)
 Applications

■ Automotive industry
✦ average electronics content of a car is today 20%
✦ to increase safety (air bag control, ABS), reduce fuel consumption and
pollution
■ Medical applications
✦ measurement of physical/chemical parameters of blood (temperature,
pressure, pH)
✦ integrated sensors in catheters
■ Consumer electronics
 Applications ...

■ Environmental applications
✦ determination of concentration of substances (carbon monoxide, heavy
metals, etc.)
■ Food industry
✦ contaminants and impurities
■ Process industry
■ Robotics
✦ distance, acceleration, force, pressure, temperature
 Pressure sensors
A pressure sensor is a device that senses and measures pressure.

■ First microsensors developed and used by industry

✦ piezoresistive pressure sensor to reduce fuel consumption by a tight
control of the ratio between air and fuel
✦ disposable blood-pressure sensor to monitor the status of the patient
during operation
■ Low production costs, high sensitivity and low
hysteresis Hysteresis can be defined by the
dependence of a state of a system

■ Commercial products are usually either piezoresistive

or capacitive
 Pressure sensors: examples of
operation principles

■ Membrane sensors
✦ deflection of the membrane
✦ change in the resonance frequency
■ Planar comb structures
■ Optical methods (Mach-Zehnder interferometer)
Piezoresistive pressure
sensors are a common
type of pressure sensor
that use the change in
electrical resistance of a
material when stretched
to measure pressure. Piezoresistive pressure sensor

■ Piezoresistors integrated in the membrane

■ Pressure deflects the membrane
■ Resistance changes proportional to deflection and thus to pressure
■ Resistance change measured with Wheatstone bridge
 A capacitive membrane pressure sensor is a type of pressure
Capacitive membrane
sensor that operates based on changes in capacitance resulting
from the deflection of a flexible membrane under applied pressure
By calibrating the sensor's response to known pressure values, it
can accurately measure the applied pressure.`
pressure sensor

■ Membrane deflects when pressure is applied

➯ Distance between the electrodes changes
➯ Capacitance changes
■ Capacitive sensors have
✦ no hysteresis Chip dimensions: 8.4 mm x 6.2 mm
Fabrication: anisotropic etching
✦ better long-term stability and
✦ higher sensitivity but
✦ higher production costs
 Capacitive pressure sensor, based on
comb structure

■ Utilizes parallel comb

structure
■ Force is applied parallel to the
sensor surface
■ Force is transformed into
displacement => change in
capacitance
■ On one side capacitance
increases and on the other
C1 − C2 Fabrication: anisotropic etching side decreases => higher
VO = VI
C1 + C2 linearity and sensitivity
 Mach-Zehnder interferometer

■ Laser light brought into the sensor

by optical fiber
■ Light is split to two beams
■ One light beam crosses a
micromembrane which is
deformed by pressure
■ The deformation changes light
properties
■ The beams are combined and
brought a photodiode
■ Different propagation speeds
Chip size: 0.3 mm x 5 mm result in phase shift
Output: 14 µV/mbar
 Position and speed microsensors

■ Applications
✦Automobiles
✦Robots
✦Medical instruments
■ Contact-freeoptical and magnetic methods are
the most significant for MST
 Magnetic sensor to measure angular
displacement

■ Measurement of joint angle in

robotics
■ Hall sensor based measurement of
angular displacement
✦ Rotor with a row of teeth
✦ Stator contains Hall sensors
✦ Permanent magnet located under the
sensors
✦ Teeth passing by a Hall sensor change
magnetic field

Length: 4 mm
Resolution: 0.028 degrees
 Capacitive angular speed sensor

■ The fork arrangement is used as a

resonator
■ The resonator starts to oscillate
when magnetic field and
alternating current are applied
(Lorentz force)
■ The amplitude of the swing angle
is detected by the capacitance
change between movable and
fixed electrodes

Size: 20 mm x 20 mm
Sensitivity: 0.5 mV s/deg
 Acceleration microsensors

■ Have mostly been used in automotive industry

■ Usually detected with capacitive and piezoresistive methods
■ An elastic cantilever where a mass is attached is mostly used
■ Under acceleration mass displaces the cantilever
■ Deflection of the cantilever is detected
■ By increasing the mass sensitivity can be increased
Examples of piezoresistive and
capacitive principles
 A capacitive accelerometer
by Analog Devices

■ A mass-produced capacitive accelerometer was presented in

1991
■ Microelectronic circuits for signal preamplification,
temperature compensation and system self-test were integrated
into the sensor
■ One of the first successful commercial accelerometers
■ Currently used in airbag systems
■ Range ±5 g, resolution 0.005 g
When the sensor experiences acceleration along the axis perpendicular to the cantilever beam (typically referred to as the sensitive axis), the inertial force causes
the cantilever to deflect. The magnitude of deflection is proportional to the applied acceleration.

Capacitance Change: As the cantilever deflects, the distance between the cantilever and the substrate changes, altering the capacitance of the capacitor formed by
the cantilever and the substrate. The change in capacitance is directly proportional to the deflection of the cantilever, which in turn is proportional to the applied
acceleration.

Capacitive cantilever microsensor

■ Sensor consists of cantilevers

acting as one electrode, an
electrode strip and a contact strip
■ Sawtooth voltage applied to
gradually increase the
electrostatic force
■ Finally cantilever touches the
contact strip
■ Acceleration affects the magnitude
of the voltage that is required for
Cantilever length: 120 - 500 µm contact
Sensitivity: 0.6 - 100 mV/g
Fabrication: dry etching
 Piezoresistive microsensor
with oil damping

■ Sensor consists of cantilever beams, a seismic mass and oil.

■ Oil dampens the resonance of the suspended mass

Cantilever length: 480 µm

Seismic mass: 2 mg
Fabrication: wet etching
 Chemical sensors

■ Detect presence or concentration

of a chemical substance
■ Applications
✦ medical diagnostics
✦ nutritional science
✦ environmental protection
✦ automobile industry
■ About 60 % of chemical sensors
are gas sensors
 Chemical sensors ...

■ Conventional measurement methods are often very

complicated and expensive, require laboratory conditions, etc.
■ Objectives of microsensors:
✦ small and inexpensive
✦ mass-produced
✦ accurate and robust
✦ use only small amount of reagents
✦ short response times
 Chemical sensors ...

■ Research trends (in addition to the development of sensor

units):
✦ integration of sensors into measurement systems (signal processing)
✦ integration of several types of sensors (to test n concentrations)
✦ microsystems with several identical sensors (local analysis of a substance,
distribution of a parameter over a certain domain)
■ Sensor principles
✦ potentiometer principle in connection with FET
✦ acoustic sensors
✦ optical sensors
 Structure of a chemical
sensor system

■ A sensitive layer is in contact with the substance

■ Chemical reaction occurs on the sensitive layer
■ Due to the reaction physical, optical, acoustic or dielectric properties are
changed
■ Transducer transforms the signal into electrical form
Operation principle of interdigital
transducer sensors

■ Interdigital transducers using

capacitive measurement are often
used in chemical sensors
■ The capacitance can be adjusted
by changing the dielectric
properties of the sensitive layer
■ E.g. resistance of SnO2 sensitive
layer changes when it interacts
with certain substances

2
1 U 
FN = eA 
2 d 
Optical sensor principle

■ Optical sensors are inexpensive,

easy to sterilize, can handle small
samples and are highly sensitive
■ Coupling grid detector
✦ substance to be analyzed is in direct
contact with the waveguide
✦ depending on the concentration of the
substance its index of refraction varies
=> amount of light striking the sensor
depends on the concentration
 Ion sensitive FET sensor

■ For continuous measurement of

pH value and gases in blood (O2,
CO2)
■ A device for external use to make
on-line diagnosis of a patient
■ Consists of a sensor, a blood
sampling and processing part
■ Uses ion sensitive FET: gate
potential is proportional to gas
concentration

Chip size: 10 mm x 10 mm
 Biosensors

■ Measurement principle is similar as with chemical

sensors
■ Sensitive layer is biologically sensitive, containing
e.g. enzymes or antibodies
■ Interaction between the molecules of the bioelement
and the molecules of the substance changes a physical
or chemical parameter
■ Parameter change is converted into electrical signal
■ Signal represents concentration to be measured
 Applications of biosensors

■ Biological and nutritional research

✦ to detect e.g. heavy metals or allergens
■ Medical applications
✦ patient data recording for correct and quick diagnosis during surgery

■ Integration of biosensors with microfluidic components

=> very small analyzers
■ Difficulties
✦ immobilization of proteins
✦ proteins are not stable for a very long time
 Metabolism sensors

■ Uses biosensitive enzymes to

catalyze a chemical reaction
■ Phosphate measurement
✦ enzyme NP detects phosphate and
triggers chemical reaction
✦ one product of the reaction HX is
transformed into XO in another
chemical reaction after consuming
oxygen
✦ amount of oxygen can be measured
using a chemical sensor
Nucleoside phosphorylase (NP)
hypoxanthine (XP) ✦ phosphate concentration is
xanthine oxidase (XO) proportional to the amount of
consumed oxygen
 Immuno-sensors

■ Antibody is the biosensitive

element
■ Immobilized antibody molecules
bond with antigen molecules in
the substance (lock and key)
■ The concentration of antigens can
be measured using for example
interferometric method (light
intensity changes)
 Temperature sensors

■ Important role in monitoring systems

✦ process industry
✦ medicine
✦ environmental protection
■ Heating and air conditioning systems
■ Indirect measurement of other parameters, e.g. in
flow sensors
■ Error compensation for temperature dependent
sensors and actuators