Silicon microheater based low-power full-range methane sensing device

Abstract

For many industrial applications of the methane sensor in a wireless node, the primary requirements are low power consumption and wide detection range. These requirements are considerably challenging as compared to the requirements related with conventional methane sensors. To meet such requirements of Internet of Things (IoT) development for methane monitoring in underground coal mines, we propose a full concentration range methane detector using a micro silicon device with low power consumption. The microheaters are fabricated with a CMOS-compatible SOI (silicon-on-insulator) MEMS (microelectromechanical system) process. Joule heating is utilized to enable micro-local high temperature for methane sensing. To obtain signals with high sensitivity and low heating power under an appropriate supplied current, a working point is determined by means of the maximum voltage variations from the voltage-current characteristics of the microheater. In general, the methane sensitivity of the micro heater increases and the power consumption decreases, as the length of the heater increases. The device has an exponential-decay response in the entire methane concentration range. A typically low power consumption around 27 mW yields an average sensitivity of approximately 20 mV/% CH4 for the methane concentration ranging from 0 to 17%.