Transforming micro electromechanical systems to nano electromechanical systems – design, analysis, modeling and simulation of nanostructures

Abstract

The advancement in the fabrication technology has made it possible to conceive practically impossible things into reality. The present need of the electronic systems is to reduce the power consumption. MEMS sensors based on metal oxides can achieve the temperature range from 50 °C to 800 °C by the expenditure of few milliwatts of power. However, the power consumption can further reduced by taking research efforts beyond micro scale to Nano scale. There is possibility to further reduce the power consumption by making use of Nano structures instead of Microstructures. In this work, the prevailing Microheater geometries such as Meander Shape and Fan Shape has been redesigned to Nanoscale and simulated using COMSOL for the very first time. The performance of Nano heaters in terms of heat distribution, power consumption and isothermal contours were studied. The power consumption of Meander shape and Fan Shape nanoheater was also calculated. Platinum was used as a heating material. The materials properties of Platinum were studied. The results obtained through software simulation will be helpful to save the time and money. Because Nanolevel fabrication of sensor using E beam Lithography is costlier. Moreover, this work will be helpful to fabricate portable and highly sensitive metal oxide gas sensors in future.