A Capacitive Fringing Field Sensor Design for Moisture Measurement Based on Printed Circuit Board Technology

Author

Dean, Robert Neal ; Rane, Aditi Kiran ; Baginski, Michael E. ; Richard, Jonathan ; Hartzog, Zane ; Elton, David J.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Auburn Univ., Auburn, AL, USA

Volume

61

Issue

4

fYear

2012

fDate

4/1/2012 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1105

Lastpage

1112

Abstract

Interdigitated electrode capacitive fringing field sensors have been utilized in numerous applications. Although various technologies are used to realize these types of sensors, printed circuit board technology is particularly advantageous for realizing this type of sensor through fabricating the interdigitated electrode structures in the patterned Cu foil. Additionally, the solder mask coating can insulate the electrodes to prevent shorting in the presence of water. Using this approach, prototype sensors were designed, simulated, fabricated, and successfully evaluated. Applications include water detection and quantity measurement and soil moisture content measurement.

Keywords

capacitance measurement; capacitive sensors; electrodes; masks; moisture measurement; printed circuit design; solders; interdigitated electrode capacitive fringing field sensor design; printed circuit board technology; prototype sensors; quantity measurement; soil moisture content measurement; solder mask coating; water detection; Capacitance; Capacitance measurement; Electrodes; Moisture measurement; Prototypes; Soil; Soil measurements; Capacitance transducers; interdigital transducers; microelectromechanical devices; moisture measurement; printed circuits;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Instrumentation and Measurement, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9456

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TIM.2011.2173041

Filename

6112217