(Invited) System-on-Chip Sensor Integration in Advanced CMOS Technology

Abstract

The growing demand for the integration of several functionalities on a single device has peaked with the rise of the Internet of Things. We are technologically near to having sensors in portable and wearable technologies, a feat made possible by the integration of sensor fabrication with CMOS manufacturing. In this paper we address semiconductor metal oxide sensors, which have the potential of becoming a universal sensor. We describe recent capabilities to model relevant materials and processes for these emerging devices and present optimized designs based on those analysis. In this review we discuss the modeling of sensor fabrication, followed by electro-thermo-mechanical analyses, which are essential to estimating stress build-up and sensor lifetimes. We further address the recent advances in understanding the metal oxide layer, which can be treated similarly to a semiconductor transistor, where ionosorption of gas ions creates a surface potential, changing the conducting behavior of the thin film.