Journal
SENSORS AND ACTUATORS A-PHYSICAL
Volume 134, Issue 1, Pages 77-87Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE SA
DOI: 10.1016/j.sna.2006.04.035
Keywords
shear stress sensor; in-plane force; out-of-plane force; piezoresistors; piezoresistive; ion implantation; oblique-implant; underwater; floating element; MEMS; micromachined
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This paper presents the design, fabrication, and characterization of unique piezoresistive microfabricated shear stress sensors for direct measurements of shear stress underwater. Sidewall-implanted piezoresistors measure lateral force (integrated shear stress) and traditional top-implanted piezoresistors detect normal forces. In addition to the oblique-implant technique, the fabrication process includes a hydrogen anneal step to smooth scalloped silicon sidewalls left by the deep reactive ion etch (DRIE) process. This step was found to reduce the 1/f noise level by almost an order of magnitude for the sidewal I-implanted piezoresistors. Lateral sensitivity was characterized using a microfabricated silicon cantilever force sensor. Out-of-plane sensitivity was evaluated by laser Doppler vibrometry and resonance of the plate element. In-plane sensitivity and out-of-plane crosstalk were characterized, as well as hysteresis and repeatability of the measurements. TSUPREM-4 simulations were used to investigate the discrepancies between the theoretical and experimental values of sidewall-implanted piezoresistor sensitivity. The sensors are designed to be used underwater for studies of hydrodynamic flows. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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