An integrated pressure and temperature sensor based on nanocrystalline porous silicon

Abstract

A novel integrated pressure and temperature sensor based on nanocrystalline porous silicon is reported here with a view to develop a smart pressure sensor. A twin MEMS porous silicon/silicon heterojunction structure is designed, fabricated and tested for the integrated pressure and temperature sensor. Pressure and temperature sensitivities have been studied at different porosities of the porous silicon membrane. The optimized porosity is observed to be around 55% for which the pressure sensitivity is about three times and temperature sensitivity is comparable to that of other types of integrated silicon sensors. The design of the integrated sensor has been done by maintaining isotherm characteristics of pressure and temperature sensors and eliminating the cross-coupling effect at the same time.