Microfabrication of a Novel Ceramic Pressure Sensor with High Sensitivity Based on Low-Temperature Co-Fired Ceramic (LTCC) Technology

Chen Li,Yunzhi Li,Wendong Zhang,Qiulin Tan,Jijun Xiong,Chenyang Xue

doi:10.3390/mi5020396

Chen Li, Yunzhi Li + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/mi5020396

Copy DOI

Journal: Micromachines	Publication Date: Jun 24, 2014
Citations: 13	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: North University of China

Abstract

In this paper, a novel capacitance pressure sensor based on Low-Temperature Co-Fired Ceramic (LTCC) technology is proposed for pressure measurement. This approach differs from the traditional fabrication process for a LTCC pressure sensor because a 4J33 iron-nickel-cobalt alloy is applied to avoid the collapse of the cavity and to improve the performance of the sensor. Unlike the traditional LTCC sensor, the sensitive membrane of the proposed sensor is very flat, and the deformation of the sensitivity membrane is smaller. The proposed sensor also demonstrates a greater responsivity, which reaches as high as 13 kHz/kPa in range of 0–100 kPa. During experiments, the newly fabricated sensor, which is only about 6.5 cm2, demonstrated very good performance: the repeatability error, hysteresis error, and nonlinearity of the sensor are about 4.25%, 2.13%, and 1.77%, respectively.

Highlights

Ceramic has been widely used in microsystem applications owing to its inherent features, which include hermeticity, chemical inactivity, high temperature stability
In order to solve the above problems and improve the performance of the sensor, we propose a novel Low-Temperature Co-Fired Ceramic (LTCC) ceramic pressure sensor preparation method that utilizes the 4J33 iron-nickel-cobalt alloy for the sensitive membrane materials
The maximum deformation of the sensitive membrane is only about 3 μm, which is flat and smaller than the deformation in the latest report of LTCC sensors researched by Xiong (2013) [15]

Summary

Introduction

Ceramic has been widely used in microsystem applications owing to its inherent features, which include hermeticity, chemical inactivity, high temperature stability. There is growing interest in creating high-temperature pressure sensors using LTCC technology. In 2002, English, Allen, et al [11,12] pioneered a wireless passive high-temperature pressure sensor based on LTCC technology; the sensitivity of that sensor can reach 150 kHz/bar. In 2009, Radosavljevic et al [13,14] proposed a wireless embedded resonant pressure sensor, fabricated with standard LTCC technology that can operate in chemically aggressive environments. In 2013, Xiong et al [15] published their findings regarding an improved sensor based on LTCC technology; this sensor’s sensitivity reached 344 KHz/bar. In order to solve the above problems and improve the performance of the sensor, we propose a novel LTCC ceramic pressure sensor preparation method that utilizes the 4J33 iron-nickel-cobalt alloy for the sensitive membrane materials. The fabricated sensor is tested wirelessly in room temperature environments, and a set of pressure studies verify the sensitivity of the sensor

Measurement Principle and Structure Design

Fabrication Processes

Results and Discussion

Conclusions