Ultra-low power MEMS micro-heater device

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a simple design for the heating device with ultra-low power consumption. The device is composed of a micro heater made of Nichrome (20/80) alloy, designed in simple meander shape covering the total surface of S = (1.25 × 104) × (102) µm2. Deposited in thin films with a thickness of 1 µm on square silicon membrane of 14 × 102 µm side and 10 µm of thickness. We used the COMSOL Multiphysics 4.3 a tool for simulation. We achieved a maximum temperature of 900 K by applying 1.5 V of voltage. For gas sensing, the temperature of 707 K is generated at 1.25 V of voltage while the power consumption is 1.25 µW. The maximum relative stress is 3.5 109 N/m2 at 1.5 V. However, at 1.25 V we have less stress of 109 N/m2 and 9.107 × 10− 3 N/m2 for the interface thermo-mechanical strain resulting in good reliability for the device. Finally, the total displacement for the membrane is 50 µm as a maximum when 1.5 V is applied and 35 µm at 1.25 V. this device is perfectly adapted for mobile application as gas sensing and IoT systems.