Efficient system-level simulations of thermal wind sensors considering environmental factors

Abstract

For the development of micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) technology during the past several years, MEMS design has requirements of high precision, high efficiency, iterative design, joint design of structure and circuit and so on. With the improvement of thermal wind sensor performance requirements and the complexity of the application environment, it is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the impact of environmental factors. However, there is no system-level model considering the influence of environmental factors adequately in macro model. To solve these problems, a 2D thermal wind sensor macro model considering environmental factors is proposed. In order to build a macro model which can reflect the output of sensors in different environments, this paper, starting from the basic law of heat transfer, proposes an accurate macro model of the thermal wind sensor. The model proposed in this study accurately considers the influence of thermal and transport properties in different environments, and can be simulated together with the interface circuits in Cadence software. The results indicate that the variation of temperature and atmospheric pressure in the natural range can affect the sensor output by more than 15%, and the influence of relative humidity should not be ignored when the temperature is higher than 70 °C. Furthermore, the flow direction over the sensor can be further studied according to the 2D equivalent circuit model. The simulation results agree well with the experimental results, and the results can provide a valuable reference for the research and practical application of thermal wind sensors.