Schottky contact-based strain-gauge elements

The author presents the results of investigations of Schottky contact-based silicon strain-gauge elements. The sensitivity of the strain gauge elements to deformation and temperature is shown to be essentially connected with the degree of imperfection of the silicon layer near the surface. The highest strain sensitivity and thermal stability are reached in strain gauge elements whose silicon layer near the surface contains local dislocation clusters of increased density. This is associated with the resonant tunneling currents flowing in such strain gauge elements under reverse bias, whose dependence on the strain and bias voltage is much stronger, and whose dependence on temperature is much weaker, than the corresponding dependences for thermionic currents. Manufactured strain gauge elements of this type had pressure sensitivity coefficients of up to 10000