A Theoretical Study of a Novel Multi-Terminal Pressure Sensor Based on the Transversal Piezoresistive Effect

Abstract

As an alternative to the pressure sensors based on the conventional silicon Wheatstone piezoresistive bridge or four-terminal piezotransducers, we propose a new topology based on a multiterminal piezotransducers. This topology improves both the sensor sensitivity and the Geometrical Correction Factor. The sensitivity of conventional piezotransducers is strongly limited by the wellknown short-circuit effects which are modeled by the geometrical correction factor. This multi-terminal topology maximizes the sensitivity and minimizes the correlation of the geometrical correction factor with the aspect ratio of the sensor layout.