Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Parametrically Amplified Low-Power MEMS Capacitive Humidity Sensor

Rugved Likhite
ORCID logo ,
Aishwaryadev Banerjee
,
Apratim Majumder
,
Mohit Karkhanis
,
Hanseup Kim
,
Carlos H. Mastrangelo
*
Version 1 : Received: 30 July 2019 / Approved: 31 July 2019 / Online: 31 July 2019 (12:00:31 CEST)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

Likhite, R.; Banerjee, A.; Majumder, A.; Karkhanis, M.; Kim, H.; Mastrangelo, C.H. Parametrically Amplified Low-Power MEMS Capacitive Humidity Sensor. Sensors 2019, 19, 3954. Likhite, R.; Banerjee, A.; Majumder, A.; Karkhanis, M.; Kim, H.; Mastrangelo, C.H. Parametrically Amplified Low-Power MEMS Capacitive Humidity Sensor. Sensors 2019, 19, 3954.

Abstract

We present the design, fabrication, and response of a polymer-based Laterally Amplified Chemo-Mechanical (LACM) humidity sensor based on mechanical leveraging and parametric amplification. The device consists of a sense cantilever asymmetrically patterned with a polymer and flanked by two stationary electrodes on the sides. When exposed to a humidity change, the polymer swells after absorbing the analyte and causes the central cantilever to bend laterally towards one side, causing a change in the measured capacitance. The device features an intrinsic gain due to parametric amplification resulting in an enhanced signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). 11-fold magnification in sensor response was observed via voltage biasing of the side electrodes without the use of conventional electronic amplifiers. The sensor showed a repeatable and recoverable capacitance change of 11% when exposed to a change in relative humidity from 25-85%. The dynamic characterization of the device also revealed a response time ~1s and demonstrated a competitive response with respect to a commercially available reference chip.

Keywords

humidity sensor; low-power sensors; MEMS; parametric amplification; spring softening

Subject

Engineering, Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Download PDF

Comments (0)

We encourage comments and feedback from a broad range of readers. See criteria for comments and our Diversity statement.

Leave a public comment
Send a private comment to the author(s)
* All users must log in before leaving a comment
Views 0
Downloads 0
Comments 0
Metrics 0
Get PDF Cite Share 0
Bookmark BibSonomy Mendeley Reddit Delicious
×
Alerts
Notify me about updates to this article or when a peer-reviewed version is published.
We use cookies on our website to ensure you get the best experience.
Read more about our cookies here.