Improved electrothermal position sensing in MEMS with non-uniformly shaped heaters

For electrothermal MEMS position sensors, we introduce a non-uniform beam profile to enhance their sensitivity, linearity, and noise characteristics. Simulation results confirm that the proposed beam profile provides a more uniform temperature distribution compared to conventional electrothermal sensors with uniform beam cross sections. The effectiveness of the proposed sensor compared to a conventional design is experimentally verified by fabricating and testing an electrostatic SOI MEMS nanopositioner equipped with both types of sensors.