Abstract
A thermopile device with sub-wavelength hole array (SHA) is numerically and experimentally investigated. The infrared absorbance (IRA) effect of SHAs in active area of the thermopile device is clearly analyzed by the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. The prototypes are manufactured by the 0.35 μm 2P4M complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor micro-electro-mechanical-systems (CMOS-MEMS) process in Taiwan semiconductor manufacturing company (TSMC). The measurement results of those prototypes are similar to their simulation results. Based on the simulation technology, more sub-wavelength hole structural effects for IRA of such thermopile device are discussed. It is found from simulation results that the results of SHAs arranged in a hexagonal shape are significantly better than the results of SHAs arranged in a square and the infrared absorption efficiencies (IAEs) of specific asymmetric rectangle and elliptical hole structure arrays are higher than the relatively symmetric square and circular hole structure arrays. The overall best results are respectively up to 3.532 and 3.573 times higher than that without sub-wavelength structure at the target temperature of 60 °C when the minimum structure line width limit of the process is ignored. Obviously, the IRA can be enhanced when the SHAs are considered in active area of the thermopile device and the structural optimization of the SHAs is absolutely necessary.
Highlights
The temperature sensor is a kind of sensor that was developed very early, widely used and most commonly used
The relative infrared absorption efficiencies (IAEs) defined as the IAE of the thermopile with the sub-wavelength hole array (SHA) at the target temperature of 60 ◦ C is relative to one without any SHA in its active area to appear the influence of the CMOS compatible thermopiles with those SHAs and is written as Relative I AE =
The prototypes are manufactured by the 0.35 μm 2P4M CMOS-MEMS process in Taiwan semiconductor manufacturing company (TSMC)
Summary
The temperature sensor is a kind of sensor that was developed very early, widely used and most commonly used. Served as the temperature measurement device, the thermopile delivers the output voltage in response to remote temperature, such as an infrared thermometer widely used by medical professionals to measure body temperature, or in a thermal accelerometer to measure the temperature curve in the sealed cavity of the sensor. It is very suitable for remote temperature sensing [5] and non-dispersive infrared sensing (NDIR) gas detection [6,7]
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