2 and Si3N4 mounted on Silicon substrate. Membrane is having 325 x 325 μm2 size and microheater area of 65 x 65 μm2 with 0.5 μm2 thickness. These microheaters are designed for achieving desired temperature of 750 K with minimum voltage and minimum power consumption for both the materials. Total power consumption in MHP depends on various power losses which effects power efficiency and microheater temperature. Conduction loss in dielectric membrane which contributes as power loss component is calculated for various values of dielectric thickness. Loss linearly increases with dielectric thickness and decrease in microheater temperature and with high mechanical stability of stack. Simulation results shows S-shape is preferred for achieving desired temperature with minimum voltage, however minimum power consumption is for Double spiral shape for both Platinum and Polysilicon materials. Dielectric thickness is optimized for minimum conduction losses for achieving desired temperature.

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Optimization of Microhotplate for Gas Sensing Applications

Manju Ahuja*, B. Prasad**, Rajneesh Talwar***
* Research Scholar, I.K.G. Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar, Punjab, India.
** Electronic Science Department, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, Haryana, India.
*** Principal, CGC Technical Campus, Mohali, Punjab, India.
Periodicity:June - August'2017
DOI : https://doi.org/10.26634/jele.7.4.13684

Abstract

With industrial revolution, gas sensors are widely used to measure and monitor traces of environmentally hazardous gases like carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, ammonia, methane, etc. Several gas sensing techniques, include optical sensitive, Surface Acoustic Waves (SAW), Polymers, semiconductor materials, etc. In semiconductor metal oxide, gas sensor activation of oxide sensing layer requires elevated temperature for which microhotplate (MHP) is used. The main objective of this work is to simulate the performance of MHP and optimize its geometry with different materials and losses before fabrication which save time and money. In this paper, electrothermal behavior of high temperature MHP is simulated using Finite Element Analysis (FEA) software COMSOL Multiphysics which saves a lot of time, cost and material before actual fabrication. Simulation result presents the temperature estimation of microheater of Double spiral, S-shape, Meander geometries of PolySilicon and Platinum materials on stack membrane of SiO2 and Si3N4 mounted on Silicon substrate. Membrane is having 325 x 325 μm2 size and microheater area of 65 x 65 μm2 with 0.5 μm2 thickness. These microheaters are designed for achieving desired temperature of 750 K with minimum voltage and minimum power consumption for both the materials. Total power consumption in MHP depends on various power losses which effects power efficiency and microheater temperature. Conduction loss in dielectric membrane which contributes as power loss component is calculated for various values of dielectric thickness. Loss linearly increases with dielectric thickness and decrease in microheater temperature and with high mechanical stability of stack. Simulation results shows S-shape is preferred for achieving desired temperature with minimum voltage, however minimum power consumption is for Double spiral shape for both Platinum and Polysilicon materials. Dielectric thickness is optimized for minimum conduction losses for achieving desired temperature.

Keywords

Square MHP, Bulk Micromachining, Electrothermal Analysis, MEMS, Membrane, Gas Sensor, Sensing Material

How to Cite this Article?

Ahuja, M., Prasad, B., and Talwar, R. (2017). Optimization of Microhotplate for Gas Sensing Applications. i-manager’s Journal on Electronics Engineering, 7(4), 9-15. https://doi.org/10.26634/jele.7.4.13684

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