Contactless electromagnetic interrogation of a MEMS-based microresonator used as passive sensing element

Author

Andò, B. ; Baglio, S. ; Bau, M. ; Ferrari, V. ; Sardini, E. ; Savalli, N. ; Serpelloni, M. ; Trigona, C.

Author_Institution

Dipt. di Ing. Elettr. Elettron. e dei Sist. (D.I.E.E.S.), Univ. of Catania, Catania, Italy

fYear

2009

fDate

21-25 June 2009

Firstpage

1429

Lastpage

1432

Abstract

This paper reports an innovative contactless MEMS-based microresonator actuated by an external time-varying magnetic field. The actuation principle is based on the interaction between the eddy currents and the magnetic field generated by an external inductor driven by a sinusoidal current; the system response is sensed via an inductive pick-up based on a high permeability material (100-mum of diameter) in order to detect the micromachined system resonance. The working principle and the experimental set-up are here described and some preliminary results are reported for a BESOI (bulk and etch silicon on insulator) crab-leg device.

Keywords

eddy currents; magnetic fields; microcavities; micromechanical resonators; silicon-on-insulator; bulk and etch silicon on insulator crab-leg device; contactless MEMS-based microresonator; contactless electromagnetic interrogation; eddy currents; external time-varying magnetic field; magnetic field; micromachined system resonance; passive sensing element; sinusoidal current; size 100 mum; Eddy currents; Inductors; Magnetic fields; Magnetic levitation; Magnetic materials; Microcavities; Micromechanical devices; Remote sensing; Silicon on insulator technology; Temperature sensors; BESOI technology; Contactless MEMS; crab-leg microresonator;

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.2009.5285811

Filename

5285811