Feedback enhanced thermo-electric topography sensing

Author

Sebastian, A. ; Wiesmann, D. ; Baechtold, P. ; Rothuizen, H. ; Despont, M. ; Drechsler, U.

Author_Institution

Zurich Res. Lab., IBM, Ruschlikon, Switzerland

fYear

2009

fDate

21-25 June 2009

Firstpage

1963

Lastpage

1966

Abstract

Thermo-electric sensors in micro-fabricated silicon cantilevers are used in a variety of applications that exploit their temperature-dependent conductivity. While the ease and low cost of integration makes their application attractive, their low sensing bandwidth presents a significant disadvantage. In this article we present a novel scheme for enhancing the sensitivity and bandwidth of these sensors using an external feedback. This scheme demonstrates the applicability of feedback control to shape a sensor´s sensing dynamics.

Keywords

cantilevers; microsensors; silicon; thermal conductivity; thermoelectric devices; Si; external feedback; feedback control; low sensing bandwidth; microfabricated silicon cantilever; sensing dynamics; sensitivity; temperature-dependent conductivity; thermoelectric sensor; thermoelectric topography sensing; Bandwidth; Feedback; Power system modeling; Silicon; Surfaces; Temperature sensors; Thermal resistance; Thermal sensors; Transfer functions; Voltage; Micro-cantilevers; thermo-electric sensing; topography sensing;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Solid-State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems Conference, 2009. TRANSDUCERS 2009. International

Conference_Location

Denver, CO

Print_ISBN

978-1-4244-4190-7

Electronic_ISBN

978-1-4244-4193-8

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/SENSOR.2009.5285675

Filename

5285675