Integrated chip-size antennas for wireless microsystems: Fabrication and design considerations

This paper reports on fabrication and design considerations of an integrated folded shorted-patch chip-size antenna for applications in short-range wireless microsystems and operating inside the 5–6 GHz ISM band. Antenna fabrication is based on wafer-level chip-scale packaging (WLCSP) techniques and consists of two adhesively bonded glass wafers with patterned metallization and through-wafer electrical interconnects. Via formation in glass substrates is identified as the key fabrication step. Various options for via formation are compared and from these, a 193 nm excimer laser ablation is selected for fabrication of the antenna demonstrator. The fabricated antenna has dimensions of 4 mm × 4 mm × 1 mm, measured operating frequency of 5.05 GHz with a bandwidth of ∼200 MHz at the return loss of −10 dB and a simulated radiation efficiency of 60% were achieved.     

Packaging effect investigation of WL-CSP with a central opening: A case study on pressure sensors

This study reports the packaging effects of wafer-level chip scale packaging (WL-CSP) with a central opening on piezoresistive pressure sensors. A regular pressure sensor with calculated sensitivity of 3.1 × 10^?2 mVV^?1 kPa^?1 and a sensitive pressure sensor with calculated sensitivity of 32.0 × 10^?2 mVV^?1 kPa^?1 are investigated. A finite element (FE) model validated by experimental measurements is used to explore the sensing characteristics of the pressure sensors. The results show that the output variation of the packaged pressure sensor is dominated by the CTE mismatch not the piezoresistive coefficient change as temperature varies. WL-CSP with small polyimide (PI) thickness and large PI opening produces small packaging induced stress, making it ideal for precision sensing for both regular and sensitive pressure sensors.     

Moisture sensor at glass/polymer interface for monitoring of photovoltaic module encapsulants

A sensor developed for measurement of water concentration inside glass/polymer encapsulation structures with a particular application area in accelerated aging of photovoltaic module encapsulants is described. An approximately 5 μm thick porous TiO₂ film applied to a glass substrate with a conductive coating acts as the moisture-sensitive component. The response is calibrated with weather chamber experiments for sensors open to the environment and with diffusion experiments for sensors laminated under an encapsulant. For the interpretation of diffusion experiment results, a transport model describing the diffusion of water across the polymer/TiO₂ interface is developed. The logarithm of AC resistance shows a linear dependence on water concentration in both open and encapsulated calibration. The first measurable response from an encapsulated 3.5 mm × 8 mm size sensor is obtained when approximately 10 μg of water has entered the film. Implications of the calibration results for sensor usage in accelerated aging tests are discussed.     

Fiber optics sensor for sub-nanometric displacement and wide bandwidth systems

In this paper, we report fiber optics sensor with sub-nanometric resolution and wide bandwidth. It relies on an increase of the reception fibers number and on low-noise electronics. Moreover, a reference channel has been implemented using a semi-reflective plate to eliminate the source fluctuations and the fiber sensor was isolated to limit external influence of temperature and pressure. Thus we achieve both a sub-nanometric resolution on a 400 ms integration time and a long-term drift as low as 40 nm h^?1. The setup has been also adapted to high speed applications by increasing the bandwidth up to 38 kHz. It can display a 28 nm peak-to-peak limit of resolution on an aluminized piezoactuator. It has been successfully used to test the resonance frequency of a vibrating plate actuated by two high-frequency prototypes of piezoactuators. These improvements lead to low cost fibers optic sensors interesting for non-contact displacement measurements with high sensitivity.     

Mechanical design and characterization of a resonant magnetic field microsensor with linear response and high resolution

A resonant magnetic field microsensor based on Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) technology including a piezoresistive detection system has been designed, fabricated, and characterized. The mechanical design for the microsensor includes a symmetrical resonant structure integrated into a seesaw rectangular loop (700 μm × 450 μm) of 5 μm thick silicon beams. An analytical model for estimating the first resonant frequency and deflections of the resonant structure by means of Rayleigh and Macaulay's methods is developed. The microsensor exploits the Lorentz force and presents a linear response in the weak magnetic field range (40–2000 μT). It has a resonant frequency of 22.99 kHz, a sensitivity of 1.94 V T^?1, a quality factor of 96.6 at atmospheric pressure, and a resolution close to 43 nT for a frequency difference of 1 Hz. In addition, the microsensor has a compact structure, requires simple signal processing, has low power consumption (16 mW), as well as an uncomplicated fabrication process. This microsensor could be useful in applications such as the automotive sector, the telecommunications industry, in consumer electronic products, and in some medical applications.     

Hybrid wireless sensor network for building energy management systems based on the 2.4 GHz and 400 MHz bands

In this paper, a hybrid wireless sensor network (WSN) system is considered and implemented for the building energy management systems. Characteristics of the radios, which are based on the 2.4 GHz and 400 MHz bands, respectively, are analyzed for the building environments. For battery-operated portable sensors, narrow-bandwidth radios of the 400 MHz band are employed in a star connection between their parent nodes. Between the parent nodes, a mesh network is constructed for an efficient and fast data transmission based on the wide-bandwidth radios of the 2.4 GHz band. The hybrid WSN system is implemented and tested for a building environment and provides a reliable wireless communication link for gathering sensing data.     

Miniature orthogonal optical scanning mirror excited by torsional piezoelectric fiber actuator

A novel optical scanner excited by a torsional piezoelectric fiber actuator is presented. The device consists of a piezoelectric fiber actuator generating torsional and longitudinal vibrations simultaneously and a specially designed metal frame transforming the two vibrations to orthogonal deflections of the mirror. Theoretical and experimental studies were performed on the structure. The changing trends of the vibration modes and resonant frequencies were obtained from finite element simulations. Samples with 1 mm × 1 mm mirrors were fabricated from PZT hollow fibers with a diameter of 1 mm and a stainless steel sheet with a thickness of 50 μm. A horizontal scanning angle of 17.9° and a vertical scanning angle of 2.6° were achieved at 6780 and 10,330 Hz under an applied voltage of 400 V_p–p.     

Design,fabrication and vacuum operation characteristics of two-dimensional comb-drive micro-scanner

We present design, fabrication, and characteristics of two-dimensional micro-machined comb-drive scanner to operate in vacuum. The scanner can be actuated in two orthogonal axes using the slanted electrostatic comb-drive and silicon conductive V-shaped torsion hinges fabricated from a silicon-on-insulator wafer. The resonant frequencies of the inner mirror and the gimbal frame are 40 kHz and 162 Hz, respectively. The resonant frequency ratio is 247. The optical scanning angles for the inner mirror and the gimbal frame are 11.5° and 14° at the operation voltages of 12 and 10 V in 1 Pa vacuum, respectively. These driving voltages are smaller by the factors of about 21 and 3 than those in atmosphere, respectively. The dependence of quality factor on pressure for the inner mirror and the gimbal frame is also experimentally investigated and compared with the theoretical calculation based on air-friction models.     

Analysis of high-Q,gallium nitride nanowire resonators in response to deposited thin films

Gallium nitride nanowires (GaN-NWs) are systems of interest for mechanical resonance-based sensors due to their small mass and, in the case of c-axis NWs, high mechanical quality (Q) factors of 10,000–100,000. We report on singly-clamped NW mechanical cantilevers of roughly 100 nm diameter and 15 μm length that resonate near 1 MHz and describe the behavior of GaN-NW resonant frequencies and Q factors following coating with various materials deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD), including alumina (Al₂O₃), ruthenium (Ru), and platinum (Pt). Changes in the GaN-NW resonant frequencies with ALD deposition clearly distinguish conformal film growth versus island film growth. Conformal films lead to a stiffening of the NW and typically increase resonant frequency, whereas island films simply increase the NW mass and cause decreased resonant frequencies. We find that conformal growth of ALD alumina leads to stiffening of ～4 kHz per nm of alumina, in agreement with previously measured material properties. Conformal growth of Ru and Pt, respectively, qualitatively confirm our analytical predictions of positive and negative resonant frequency shifts. Island growth of ALD Ru has demonstrated a decrease in resonant frequency consistent with mass loading of ～0.2 fg for a 150 ALD-cycle film, also consistent with analytical predictions. Resonant Q factors are found to decrease with ALD film growth, offering the additional possibility of studying mechanical dissipation processes associated with the ALD-NW composite structures.     

Development of wireless compressive/relaxation-stress measurement system integrated with pressure-sensitive carbon black-filled silicone rubber-based sensors

In order to detect the installation compressive stress and monitor the stress relaxation between two bending surfaces on a defensive furnishment, a wireless compressive-stress/relaxation-stress measurement system based on pressure-sensitive sensors is developed. The flexible pressure-sensitive stress sensor array is fabricated by using carbon black-filled silicone rubber-based composite. The wireless stress measurement system integrated with this sensor array is tested with compressive stress in the range from 0 MPa to 3 MPa for performance evaluation. Experimental results indicate that the fractional change in electrical resistance of the pressure-sensitive stress sensor changes linearly and reversibly with the compressive stress, and its fractional change goes up to 355% under uniaxial compression; the change rate of the electrical resistance can track the relaxation stress and give out a credible measurement in the process of stress relaxation. The relationship between input (compressive stress) and output (the fractional change in electrical resistance) of the pressure-sensitive sensor is ΔR/R₀ = σ × 1.2 MPa^?1. The wireless compressive stress measurement system can be used to achieve sensitivity of 1.33 V/MPa to the stress at stress resolution of 920.3 Pa. The newly developed wireless stress measurement system integrated with pressure-sensitive carbon black-filled silicone rubber-based sensors has advantages such as high sensitivity to stress, high stress resolution, simple circuit and low energy consumption.     

Vibrational analysis of graphene based nanostructures

This paper deals with the molecular mechanics simulations of graphene nanostructures and their vibration behavior for potential applications on nano-electronics and nanocomposites. The fundamental frequencies for CNTs range from 10 to 250 GHz and 100 to 1000 GHz for the cantilevered and bridged conditions, respectively. As the ratio L/d increases the fundamental frequency decreases, as expected. A decrease on fundamental frequencies with the bending waviness was noticed for all conditions. The mode shape for bent carbon nanotubes seems to be a superposition of the vibration mode and the bending mode for the zigzag configuration. Multi-layered graphene nanosheets were also investigated. The fundamental frequencies ranged from 50 to 150 GHz, with an odd/even shape mode switch.     

A magnetoelectric energy harvester and management circuit for wireless sensor network

This paper presents an electromagnetic energy harvesting scheme by using a composite magnetoelectric (ME) transducer and a power management circuit. In the transducer, the vibrating wave induced from the magnetostrictive Terfenol-D plate in dynamic magnetic field is converged by using an ultrasonic horn. Consequently more vibrating energy can be converted into electricity by the piezoelectric element. A switching capacitor network for storing electricity is developed. The output of the transducer charges the storage capacitors in parallel until the voltage across the capacitors arrives at the threshold, and then the capacitors are automatically switched to being in series. More capacitors can be employed in the capacitor network to further raise the output voltage in discharging. For the weak magnetic field environment, an active magnetic generator and a magnetic coil antenna under ground are used for producing an ac magnetic field of 0.2–1 Oe at a distance of 25–50 m. In combination with the supply management circuit, the electromagnetic energy harvester with a rather weak power output (about 20 μW) under an ac magnetic field of 1 Oe can supply power for wireless sensor nodes with power consumption of 75 mW at a duration of 620 ms.     

Gas sensing behavior of polyvinylpyrrolidone-modified ZnO nanoparticles for trimethylamine

Gas sensors based on polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)-modified ZnO nanoparticles with different molar ratios of Zn²⁺: PVP were prepared by a sol–gel method. Morphology of the sensors was characterized by field emission-scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), which indicated that the sensor with a molar ratio of Zn²⁺: PVP = 5:5 showed uniform morphology. Moreover, the sensor exhibited fairly excellent sensitivity and selectivity to trimethylamine (TMA). The response and recovery time of the sensor were 10 and 150 s, respectively. Finally, the mechanism for the improvement in the gas sensing properties was discussed.     

Wireless micromachined ceramic pressure sensor for high-temperature applications

In high-temperature applications, such as pressure sensing in turbine engines and compressors, high-temperature materials and data retrieval methods are required. The microelectronics packaging infrastructure provides high-temperature ceramic materials, fabrication tools, and well-developed processing techniques that have the potential for applicability in high-temperature sensing. Based on this infrastructure, a completely passive ceramic pressure sensor that uses a wireless telemetry scheme has been developed. The passive nature of the telemetry removes the need for electronics, power supplies, or contacts to withstand the high-temperature environment. The sensor contains a passive LC resonator comprised of a movable diaphragm capacitor and a fixed inductor, thereby causing the sensor resonant frequency to be pressure-dependent. Data is retrieved with an external loop antenna. The sensor has been fabricated and characterized and was compared with an electromechanical model. It was operated up to 400/spl deg/C in a pressure range from 0 to 7 Bar. The average sensitivity and accuracy of three typical sensors are: -141 kHz Bar/sup -1/ and 24 mbar, respectively.     

A novel plastic package for pressure sensors fabricated using the lithographic dam-ring approach

This study presents a novel plastic package for piezoresistive pressure sensors. A photoresist dam-ring patterned using the lithographic process is spin-coated on a piezoresistive pressure sensor to define a sensing channel in the pressure sensor package. Fluid epoxy molding encapsulates the pressure sensor and exposes the sensing channel during a high-temperature molding process at 165 °C. Experimental observations reveal that the silicon membrane of the pressure sensor is completely free of epoxy molding compound (EMC) contamination after the transfer molding process. The effectiveness of the dam-ring in shielding the silicon membrane of the pressure sensor during the molding process was confirmed. The packaged pressure sensor exerts a thermo-mechanical stress on the silicon membrane of the pressure sensor, resulting in an undesired output voltage drift. However, employing a package design with a large sensing channel opening can reduce the effect of package-induced stress. The proposed packaging scheme was a small package volume and surface-mount device (SMD) compatible features, making it suitable for portable commercial devices.     

A liquid rate gyroscope using electro-conjugate fluid

We propose a novel liquid rate gyroscope using an electro-conjugate fluid (ECF). The electro-conjugate fluid is a dielectric fluid that works as a smart fluid, generating a powerful jet flow (ECF jet) when subjected to a high DC voltage. In this study, we introduce this functional fluid into gyroscopes. Although the sensing principle for angular rate is based on that of a conventional gas rate sensor, the proposed gyroscope has a much higher sensitivity because the density of the liquid is generally higher than that of a gas. In addition, the gyroscope is small in size because the ECF jet is generated only with a pair of tiny electrodes. In other words, the pumping part of the proposed gyroscope does not need mechanical moving parts, resulting in an ECF gyroscope more suitable for micro-applications than a gas rate sensor, which requires a pumping mechanism inside. We fabricated a prototype of the liquid rate gyroscope (40 mm × 60 mm × t7 mm) and confirmed its characteristics by experiments. The experimental results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed liquid rate gyroscope. The prototype has a scale factor of ?29 mV/(°/s) with an applied voltage of 4.5 kV, which is 2.2 times more sensitive than the conventional gas rate gyroscope.     

Exploitation of aeroelastic effects for drift reduction,in an all-polymer air flow sensor

This paper presents a vibration amplitude measurement method that greatly reduces the effects of baseline resistance drift in an all-polymer piezoresistive flow sensor or microtuft. The sensor fabrication is based on flexible printed circuit board (flex-PCB) technology to enable the potential for low-cost and scalable manufacture. Drift reduction is accomplished by discriminating the flow-induced vibration (‘flutter’) amplitude of the microtuft-based sensor as a function of flow velocity. Flutter peak-to-peak amplitude is measured using a microcontroller-based custom readout circuit. The fabricated sensor with the readout circuitry demonstrated a drift error of 2.8 mV/h, which corresponds to a flow-referenced drift error of 0.2 m/s of wind velocity per hour. The sensor has a sensitivity of 14.5 mV/(m/s) with less than 1% non-linearity over the velocity range of 5–16 m/s. The proposed vibration amplitude measurement method is also applied to a sensor array with a modified structure and a reduced dimension, which demonstrated a sensitivity of 13.2 mV/(m/s) with a flow-referenced drift error of 0.03 m/s of wind velocity per hour.     

A high-performance MEMS capacitive strain sensing system

This paper describes the design of a functional strain sensing module with large dynamic range (80 dB), DC to 10 kHz response, high resolution, and mini size for industrial applications, such as the rolling-element bearings research. The design of the MEMS capacitive strain sensor employs mechanical amplifications of package design and buckle beams as well as the linear differential comb capacitor. The sensor is interfaced with a low noise charge amplifier, mixer, and filter circuits to provide an analog output that demonstrated a resolution of 0.09 microstrains with a maximum range of ±1000 microstrains. The sensor and the electronic circuits, including a temperature sensor, can be integrated on a chip, and packaged as a small functional unit. Additional electronics were integrated with the interface circuit on the chip that provide A/D conversion, radio frequency power supply, and digital signal telemetry to a near-by control unit. Preliminary test results are compared with the design simulation.     

A miniature bio-inspired optic flow sensor based on low temperature co-fired ceramics (LTCC) technology

Low temperature co-fired ceramics (LTCC) technology is classically used in the field of radio frequencies to make items such as miniature transceivers for handheld devices. Here we harness the LTCC technology to autonomous micro-aerial vehicles (MAVs), a field in which small size and low mass are at a premium. Designing autonomous MAVs will be a highly challenging issue during the next few decades. Bio-inspired optic flow sensors, also known as elementary motion detector (EMD) circuits, have proved to be efficient means of providing animals and robots with visual guidance ability. The LTCC technology gives a good trade-off between the need for reliable optic flow sensors and the need for small-sized multiple electronic components. Comparisons with other technologies (PCB, analogue VLSI) show that LTCC technology is one of the most reliable solutions to the problem of obtaining reliable electronic EMDs that are small enough (area 7 mm × 7 mm) and light enough (mass 0.2 g) to be accommodated on-board a MAV. The output from our LTCC based optic flow sensors is largely invariant with respect to both contrast and spatial frequency.     

A new discrete circuit for readout of resistive sensor arrays

In this paper, we present a method that simplifies the interconnect complexity of N × M resistive sensor arrays from N × M to N + M. In this method, we propose to use two sets of interconnection lines in row–column fashion with all the sensor elements having one of their ends connected to a row line and other end to a column line. This interconnection overloading results in crosstalk among all the elements. This crosstalk causes the spreading of information over the whole array. The proposed circuit in this method takes care of this effect by minimizing the crosstalk. The circuit makes use of the concept of virtual same potential at the inputs of an operational amplifier in negative feedback to obtain a sufficient isolation among various elements. We theoretically present the suitability of the method for small/moderate sized sensor arrays and experimentally verify the predicted behavior by lock-in-amplifier based measurements on a light dependent resistor (LDR) in a 4 × 4 resistor array. Finally, we present a successful implementation of this method on a 16 × 16 imaging array of LDR.