Design, preparation and characterization of a double-ended symmetric MEMS thermopile with adiabatic grooves

Abstract

Microelectro mechanical systems (MEMS) infrared Thermopile is the core working device of modern information detection systems such as spectrometer, gas sensor, remote temperature sensor, etc. Higher surface utilization and responsiveness as well as easier preparation process will be the future development trend of this kind of device manufacturing technology. In this paper, we propose a double-ended symmetrical arrangement of thermopile structure, by eliminating the independent infrared absorption area, extending the hot end placement of thermocouple strip, expanding the cold end ohmic contact area, adding adiabatic grooves and other designs to optimize the temperature difference distribution of the thermopile, The test results show that the optimized double-ended symmetric MEMS thermopile with adiabatic grooves has a responsivity of 23.205 V/W, a detection rate of 1.01 × 108 cm*Hz^(1/2)/W, and a response time of 27.06 ms. The expansion of the cold-end ohmic contact zone and adiabatic grooves improve the device response by 25.1%, which provides ideas for further optimization of the design of future MEMS infrared thermopiles.