A Study on Sensitivity Performance of CMOS-MEMS Pressure Sensors utilizing Split Channel MOSFET Structures

Kalpana Gogoi; Menuvolu Tetseo; Gaurav Kumar; Pradeep Kumar  Rathore; Shashi Kumar; Peesapati Rangababu; Jaspreet Singh; B.S. Panwar

doi:10.56042/jsir.v85i3.13210

Authors

Kalpana Gogoi 1Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, National Institute of Technology Meghalaya, Shillong 793 003, India
Menuvolu Tetseo Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, National Institute of Technology Meghalaya, Shillong 793 003, India
Gaurav Kumar 1Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, National Institute of Technology Meghalaya, Shillong 793 003, India
Pradeep Kumar Rathore Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, National Institute of Technology Meghalaya, Shillong 793 003, India
Shashi Kumar Numelo Technologies Pvt. Ltd. (A startup of IIT Bombay), Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, 400 076, India
Peesapati Rangababu Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Indian Institute of Information Technology Design and Manufacturing, Kurnool, 518 008, India
Jaspreet Singh Semi-Conductor Laboratory, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India, Mohali, 160 071, India
B.S. Panwar Department of Electrical, Electronics & Communication Engineering, Dehradun Institute of Technology (DIT) University, Mussoorie, 248 009, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.56042/jsir.v85i3.13210

Keywords:

Circuit characteristics, Current mirror, Finite element analysis, Piezoresistive effect, Split channel MOSFET

Abstract

The paper presents a simulation study on the sensitivity performance of CMOS-MEMS pressure sensors utilizing the Split channel MOSFET structures. These pressure sensors have been designed as split circular curved and split square curved channel MOSFETs integrated on corresponding silicon based circular and square diaphragms. These pressure sensors operate using the piezoresistive effect of MOSFET as a transduction mechanism, referred to as piezo-MOS. The research has been carried out using n-MOS, p-MOS, and CMOS (integrated p-MOS and n-MOS) current mirror circuits. Each circuit has been individually integrated with both diaphragm geometries. The proposed pressure sensors were redesigned using SCL 180 nm CMOS technology, with a 100 µm channel width and 10 µm channel length. The piezo-MOS structure has been split into four segments, resulting in a current mirror integrated split curved channel MOSFET pressure sensor. The mechanical properties of the proposed pressure sensors have been studied using the finite element analysis solver, COMSOL Multiphysics software. The circuit characteristics have been evaluated using Tanner T-Spice. The external pressure ranging from 0 kPa to 450 kPa has been applied to the pressure sensors. The sensitivities of n-MOS, p-MOS, and CMOS (integrated p-MOS and n-MOS) current mirrors, for Split circular curved channel pressure sensor, have been obtained as 122.051, 0.249, and 377.611 mV/MPa, respectively. Similarly, for the Split square curved channel, it has been obtained as 138.821, 0.401, and 492.250 mV/MPa, respectively, for the corresponding readout circuits. The sensitivity variation over different temperature ranges has also been studied and compared for the proposed pressure sensors. Enhanced sensitivity and compatibility with CMOS technology could make the proposed pressure sensors suitable for the next-generation pressure sensing devices.

Author Biographies

Kalpana Gogoi, 1Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, National Institute of Technology Meghalaya, Shillong 793 003, India

Kalpana Gogoi is currently pursuing PhD from the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, National Institute of Technology Meghalaya and her area of research work is on MEMS based pressure sensors.
Menuvolu Tetseo, Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, National Institute of Technology Meghalaya, Shillong 793 003, India

Menuvelo Tetseo is currently pursuing PhD from the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, National Institute of Technology Meghalaya and her research area core work is on MEMS cantilever-based mass sensors.
Gaurav Kumar , 1Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, National Institute of Technology Meghalaya, Shillong 793 003, India

Gaurav Kumar is working as Junior Telecom Officer at BSNL and is currently pursuing PhD from the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Meghalaya. He is working on MEMS pressure sensors for high temperature and harsh environment.
Pradeep Kumar Rathore, Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, National Institute of Technology Meghalaya, Shillong 793 003, India

Pradeep Kumar Rathore is currently working as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, National Institute of Technology Meghalaya. He completed his PhD from Indian Institute of Technology Delhi in 2015. His research focuses on integration of CMOS and MEMS. He has published more than 25 publications in the international journals and conferences.
Shashi Kumar , Numelo Technologies Pvt. Ltd. (A startup of IIT Bombay), Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, 400 076, India

Shashi Kumar works as Senior Research Scientist at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. He completed his PhD from National Institute of Technology Meghalaya in 2021. His area of research is CMOS, MEMS & integrated sensors.
Peesapati Rangababu , Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Indian Institute of Information Technology Design and Manufacturing, Kurnool, 518 008, India

Peesapati Rangababu is currently working as an Associate Professor in the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Indian Institute of Information Technology, Design & Manufacturing, Kurnool. He completed his PhD from University of Hyderabad in 2014. His area of research includes Machine learning Systems, IoT, Microelectronics, VLSI and MEMS. He has published more than 60 publications in the international journals and conferences.
Jaspreet Singh , Semi-Conductor Laboratory, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India, Mohali, 160 071, India

Jaspreet Singh is working as Scientist at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) since 2005. He has obtained his PhD from Indian Institute of Science in 2015. From 2006 onwards he has been working at Semi-Conductor Laboratory (SCL) on deputation from ISRO and has been involved in design and development of various MEMS based sensors like piezoresistive pressure sensors, gas sensors, microheaters cantilevers and piezoelectric acoustic sensors for various strategic departments like ISRO, DRDO, BARC and PGIMER. He has filed five patents and have more than 40 publications in Journals & Conferences.
B.S. Panwar, Department of Electrical, Electronics & Communication Engineering, Dehradun Institute of Technology (DIT) University, Mussoorie, 248 009, India

B.S. Panwar was associated with Indian Institute of technology IIT Delhi from 1981 to 2015 at different academic position. He had been recipient of International IBM Faculty Award, Adjunct Professor at University of Regina, Saskatchewan. He is a Senior Member of IEEE and reviewer of IEEE transaction on UFFC, Electron Devices, Evolutionary Computation, Applied Physics etc. Prof. Panwar has been consultant to Motorola USA, Phase Devices UK, Biomorphic USA, and consultant to Honeywell Technologies Bangalore-India. Prof. Panwar has published about 100 research papers in high impact factor journals with an excellent citation index. Prof Panwar had association with FEMTO, Besancon – France, and Delft University in Netherlands, and McMaster University Canada. He has published more than 100 publications in the international journals and conferences with good citation index.