Tunneling tip engine for microsensors applications

M. Edward Motamedi; Sangtae Park; Angus P. Andrews; Mohsen Khoshnevisan

doi:10.1117/12.360471

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3 September 1999 Tunneling tip engine for microsensors applications

M. Edward Motamedi, Sangtae Park, Angus P. Andrews, Mohsen Khoshnevisan

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Proceedings Volume 3875, Materials and Device Characterization in Micromachining II; (1999) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.360471
Event: Symposium on Micromachining and Microfabrication, 1999, Santa Clara, CA, United States

Abstract

We have developed and tested a tunneling tip engine in a multi-sensor module. The tested flip-chip device uses tunneling current for feedback to control deformation of a micromachined pressure membrane. The device includes a tunneling acceleration sensor based on a similar `seesaw' structure, but this paper only reports on the membrane structure. Several intermediate test beds were designed to characterize the strength and the mechanical properties of the membrane. The data collected from these experiments were used in simulation of the sensor structure prior to final fabrication. The resulting sensor, which uses the feedback actuation signal as the sensor output, is designed for closed loop control of the tip electron tunneling current. This type of closed-loop implementation provides better linearity and dynamic range than that of open-loop sensors.

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M. Edward Motamedi, Sangtae Park, Angus P. Andrews, and Mohsen Khoshnevisan "Tunneling tip engine for microsensors applications", Proc. SPIE 3875, Materials and Device Characterization in Micromachining II, (3 September 1999); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.360471

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