Integrated optical proximity microsensor

This paper presents the design, simulation and experimental results of an integrated proximity sensor manufactured on silicon substrate. The sensor was designed for microrobotic applications like integration into a microgripper arm or detection of the position of gripper arms relative to an object. The structure is based on an SU8 polymeric optical waveguide splitted into three arms, integrated with a multielement photodetector on silicon substrate. Each element of the photodetector is a metal–semiconductor–metal (MSM) photodiode with Ti/Al Schottky interdigitated electrodes.