A Novel 2-D Capacitive Silicon Flow Sensor

Author

Wei, Ze-Wen ; Qin, Ming ; Huang, Qing-An

Author_Institution

Southeast Univ., Nanjing

fYear

2007

fDate

28-31 Oct. 2007

Firstpage

888

Lastpage

891

Abstract

A novel 2-D capacitive silicon flow sensor which can detect both air flow velocity and direction is presented in this paper. The sensor has a sensing disk that is connected with the anchor by "spring-like beam". The flow induced drag force makes the disk shift, and eventually changes the capacitance. The influences of the flow on the structure are analyzed by FEA. A fascination process based on anodic bonding and ICP (Inductive Coupled Plasma) etch is proved to be a valid one. The fabricated sensor is 4.8 mm in diameter and 0.12 mm in height, with 2.4 pF of initial capacitance in each quadrant. Wind flow velocity from 1 m/s to 10 m/s and flow direction angle of 360 degrees can be measured successfully. The experiment results show a reasonable agreement with the simulation.

Keywords

capacitance; drag; elemental semiconductors; finite element analysis; flow measurement; flow sensors; silicon; sputter etching; 2-D capacitive silicon flow sensor; Si; air flow direction; air flow velocity; anodic bonding; capacitance; finite element analysis; flow induced drag force; inductive coupled plasma etching; sensing disk; Bonding; Capacitance; Capacitive sensors; Drag; Etching; Fluid flow measurement; Force sensors; Plasma applications; Silicon; Wind speed;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Sensors, 2007 IEEE

Conference_Location

Atlanta, GA

ISSN

1930-0395

Print_ISBN

978-1-4244-1261-7

Electronic_ISBN

1930-0395

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/ICSENS.2007.4388544

Filename

4388544