A SiC MEMS Resonant Strain Sensor for Harsh Environment Applications |
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| Authors: | Robert G Azevedo Debbie G Jones Anand V Jog Babak Jamshidi David R Myers Li Chen Xiao-an Fu Mehran Mehregany Muthu B J Wijesundara Albert P Pisano |
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| Affiliation: | Dept. of Mech. Eng., Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA; |
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| Abstract: | In this paper, we present a silicon carbide MEMS resonant strain sensor for harsh environment applications. The sensor is a balanced-mass double-ended tuning fork (BDETF) fabricated from 3C-SiC deposited on a silicon substrate. The SiC was etched in a plasma etch chamber using a silicon oxide mask, achieving a selectivity of 5:1 and etch rate of 2500 Aring/min. The device resonates at atmospheric pressure and operates from room temperature to above 300degC. The device was also subjected to 10 000 g shock (out-of-plane) without damage or shift in resonant frequency. The BDETF exhibits a strain sensitivity of 66 Hz/muepsiv and achieves a strain resolution of 0.11 muepsiv in a bandwidth from 10 to 20 kHz, comparable to state-of-the-art silicon sensors |
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