Developing MEMS DC electric current sensor for end-use monitoring of DC power supply: Part V - corresponding relationship between polarization and output voltage

A bending type MEMS DC current sensor to satisfy the increasing needs of DC power supply for monitoring the electricity consumption by either one-wire or two-wire appliance cord was proposed in DTIP 2011. A linear relationship between the peak value of the impulsive output voltage and the DC current was obtained based on a macro-scale prototype device. In DTIP 2013, an oscillating type MEMS DC current sensor with integration of actuating and sensing elements was further proposed. By using a micro-scale prototype device, the maximum value of the output voltage was constantly measured and was found to linearly increase with the DC current. In present study (DTIP 2015), a bending type MEMS-scale DC current sensor device with three parallel PZT partition plates, was fabricated for preliminary examination. The output voltage monotonically increases with the increasing of the current and is in accordance with the variation of the theoretical magnetic force. While the corresponding relationship between polarization and output voltage is not clear. Compared with commercial Hall-effect devices, the proposed passive MEMS DC current sensor has two significant features of power-free passive sensing and two-wire direct measuring without using separator.