MEMS flow sensors with silicon-carbide erosion resistant coating

This paper presents an application of a non-planar polycrystalline silicon carbide (poly-SiC) coating for a MEMS capacitive flow sensor to enhance its erosive wear resistance. The device is fabricated on Silicon-On-Insulator wafers with 100 micrometer device layer using only three photo-lithographic...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in2015 IEEE SENSORS pp. 1 - 4
Main Authors Duy-Son Nguyen, Pillatsch, Pit, Paprotny, Igor, Wright, Paul, White, Richard
Format Conference Proceeding
LanguageEnglish
Published IEEE 01.11.2015
Subjects
Capacitance
Capacitors
Coatings
Micromechanical devices
Resistance
Sensors
Silicon carbide
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Summary:This paper presents an application of a non-planar polycrystalline silicon carbide (poly-SiC) coating for a MEMS capacitive flow sensor to enhance its erosive wear resistance. The device is fabricated on Silicon-On-Insulator wafers with 100 micrometer device layer using only three photo-lithographic mask layers. The whole device is coated in non-planar poly-SiC using a low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) method. Experimental testing with an air flow at atmospheric pressure shows that the output capacitance follows a quadratic function of the gas velocity, as was predicted from preliminary calculations. Erosion testing using sandblasting equipment shows superior erosive resistance of the sensor with poly-SiC coating compared to the one without poly-SiC coating.
DOI:10.1109/ICSENS.2015.7370429